Wins over Newcastle, Lander close out boys’ basketball season

It wasn’t the title they had hoped for, but the members of the Powell High School boys’ basketball team finished with a title at the 3A state championships over the weekend. After an opening-round loss to eventual champion Torrington, the Panthers rebounded with wins over Newcastle and Lander.

“We went in with the mentality to win the tournament and it just didn’t work out that way,” said Panther head coach Mike Heny. “It was nice for the seniors to go out with some hardware. I was happy to see us bounce back and go out with two wins for the program.”

The deck was stacked against Powell in its quarterfinal game against Torrington. The Panthers were forced to play the game with scoring leader Chase Partridge on the bench, a byproduct of the senior’s double-technical ejection at the 3A West regional tournament.

Fans were hard-pressed to notice that fact in the first half of that opening game, however. Marshall McArthur connected for a pair of early 3-point buckets as Powell vaulted to a 14-5 lead seven minutes into the game.

Torrington trimmed the lead to three points early in the second quarter, but a Josh Cragoe bucket from behind the arc capped a 7-1 spurt that re-established the nine-point gap midway through the second quarter. Two minutes later, Tyler Sandal’s shot from behind the arc sent Powell’s lead into double figures for the first time.

Brady Schaefer’s free throw with 1:11 left in the first half gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the night, 30-19, before University of Wyoming signee Jason McManamen knocked down a bucket to carve the gap to 30-21 at the half.

“Holding them to 21 points in the first half and going in ahead by nine was a great story,” said Heny. “I told the kids at the half that I couldn’t have been prouder of their effort. We had Torrington on the ropes.”

That’s where the feel-good story ended for the Panthers, however. Torrington opened the second half with a 6-0 run. By the midway point of the quarter, Powell was staring at its first deficit of the night.

Torrington stretched that lead to four points. Baskets by Sandal and Justin Lynn in the final minute of the third quarter sent Powell into the final period still clinging to a 40-39 lead.

That lead didn’t last long. A 9-0 run by the Trailblazers gave Torrington its biggest lead of the night at 50-42 with 3:52 to play. McArthur appeared to deliver a momentum halting 3-point bucket in the midst of that flurry, but the points were waved off after officials ruled the Panthers had requested a time out prior to the shot’s release.

The Panthers got no closer than six over the final four minutes of the game.

“Unfortunately, in the second half, they were able to expose that our leading scorer was on the bench,” Heny said. “That puts a lot of pressure on everyone that’s on the floor and we didn’t shoot the ball as well the second half.”

Torrington, meanwhile, was on fire. The Trailblazers connected on 13 of their 16 shots from the floor, including a perfect 6-for-6 showing in the decisive fourth period.

McArthur finished with 12 points and seven rebounds to pace the Panthers in both stat categories. Sandal added 10 points and six rebounds.

McManamen finished with 25 points and 14 boards for Torrington.

The loss sent Powell into an elimination game against Newcastle. That contest tipped off just 14 hours after the conclusion of Powell’s emotional loss to Torrington.

“Mostly, we just talked to the kids about putting the disappointment behind them,” Heny said. “We told them that finishing the year with two wins would be something that would be meaningful for them in the future and just tried to make sure we were mentally ready to go.”

Newcastle, the state tournament’s surprise team after not even being predicted to advance out of the 3A East region, fell behind early. Powell vaulted to a 13-4 lead less than four minutes into the contest.

By the end of the quarter, however, Newcastle had recovered much of that gap. The rest vanished in the second period as Newcastle carried a three-point lead into the half.

Newcastle stretched its lead to as many as six points in the third period and led by four entering the final quarter. Partridge sandwiched buckets around a Cragoe basket to tie the game with 2:54 to play.

McArthur delivered a go-ahead bucket with 1:47 to play and Cooper Wise’s free throw accounted for the final Panther point as Powell held Newcastle scoreless for the game’s final 3:26.

Partridge had 19 points. Cragoe added 11 while McArthur and Schaefer finished with 10 points each.

The win advanced Powell to the consolation final against Lander. Similar to the Newcastle game, the Panthers jumped to an early lead after scoring 11 of the game’s first 13 points.

Cragoe’s bucket two minutes into the second quarter gave the Panthers a 19-6 lead. Lander was able to trim that gap down to seven points at halftime and trailed 23-16 midway through the contest.

That gap narrowed to a single point after Austin Roberts knocked home a 3-point shot with 5:43 to play in the game. A pair of Partridge free throws, followed by a steal and a 3-point bucket put Powell back to a six-point cushion with 2:12 to play.

Lander never got closer than four the rest of the way.

Partridge finished the game with 23 points and seven rebounds. He ends his senior year averaging a school-record 21.4 points per game. With his state tournament performance, he also finishes his career as the Panthers’ single-season scoring leader and just 10 points shy of Powell High School’s career scoring record.

“He’s put in a lot of time and commitment,” Heny said of Partridge. “Any time there was an open gym, whenever we went to summer camp, he was there. He’s worked tirelessly on his game to get better. It hasn’t always been easy for him, but he really made a commitment as a freshman. When you stack up what he’s done, he’s one of Powell’s best ever.”

Partridge isn’t the only three-year player the program graduates. Wise is a three-year starter alongside Partridge while Cragoe battled winter injuries at times to contribute heavily to the program for three years as well.

“I started with these guys as freshmen,” Heny said. “I moved up with them when I became head coach, so I’m the only coach they’ve had at the high school level. They took some lumps in a big way as sophomores, but just kept working hard and accomplished an awful lot. I’m extremely proud of them.”

Powell wraps up its season 22-6 overall.