An eight-man squad enjoyed a successful season at the freshmen level for the Powell Panthers, finishing with a 12-10 record in their first campaign of high school basketball.

For the year the Panthers had wins against 3A competition in Worland, Thermopolis, Buffalo, Lander, Douglas and Glenrock while also enjoying wins against Cody and Burlington.

Coach Greg Stenlund said the team split with some of the 3A competition, and had losses late in the year against Burlington and the Ten Sleep varsity team in the final game of the season.

Leading the way in scoring for the Panthers was a strong duo of Nathan Preator and Taeson Schultz, who led the Panthers in 3-pointers as both athletes averaged multiple 3-pointers in nearly every contest for the team.

Schultz had a season high seven 3-pointers against Greybull and an additional six against Glenrock in another contest.

Preator had a season high 38 point game against Worland in one of the multiple matchups between the two teams.

“Those two players were also instrumental in a JV game against Lander,” Stenlund said. “They helped lead the JV team to a comeback win by hitting three combined 3-pointers in about a two minute stretch of the game to make up the deficit and take the lead.”

An overall strong player for the Panther freshmen was Landon Hyde, who Stenlund said helped Powell rebound the ball throughout the season.

“We do not track rebounds at the freshmen level, but I’m certain he was our leading rebounder,” Stenlund said. “There were multiple games where he was in double digits for rebounds.”

Gabe Weimer anchored the defense for the young Panthers, taking charge and often guarding the opposing teams’ tallest and best offensive players.

“He was tenacious and tough — he never took a play off,” Stenlund said.

One player who did not see a lot of court time this year was Caden Nelson, who played two games early in the year before falling ill and being unable to play for a majority of the season before playing three games late in the year.

“He is an excellent athlete with great speed and jumping ability,” Stenlund said. “He was severely missed when we did not have him on the court. For the games we had him he was a great run-out offensive player and a tough defender.”

Ryan Barrus was the fifth starter for a majority of the season, deferring to other players most of the time on offense but being able to shoot when he needed to.

Coming off the bench for Powell were Dominick Bieber and Ethan Frame, giving strong minutes for the Panthers.

“They are both working to improve their skills and had some great moments during the season,” Stenlund said.

He said Bieber is an improving shooter while Frame was a strong defender who grabbed his share of rebounds throughout the season.

With three players earning junior varsity time throughout the season, the Panthers continued to grow with a small squad through a successful first high school year.