After a season full of ups and downs the Powell Panther boys’ freshman basketball team finished with a strong record, going 14-6 in their first year of high school competition.

Starting out the year the Panthers went 3-0 at the Lovell tournament, and extended their winning ways to 5-0 after defeating Rocky Mountain and Cody.

Unfortunately for Powell, a bad day at the Buffalo tournament dropped their record to 5-3 before getting back on track against Lovell 48-26.

That sparked another five game winning streak, before Cody got its revenge with a 51-34 win.

Powell then defeated Lovell and Worland before a two game losing skid against Burlington and Buffalo.

Ending the season, the Panthers defeated Burlington and Greybull, but were unable to finish the season with a freshman tournament after it was canceled early in the year.

“It is nice to have a tournament to wrap up a season otherwise, after the last game, it’s a bit of a letdown,” coach Greg Stenlund said.

Throughout the season the Panthers continued to battle, as Stenlund said they were great teammates throughout the season.

“I have never had a more encouraging team to other teammates,” Stenlund said. “I loved that about them. They always had each others’ backs and demonstrably celebrated the other players’ successes on the floor.”

Stenlund said one of those vocal leaders was Breckyn Kobbe, who always cheered on his teammates to the fullest extent possible whether on or off the court.

Offensively the Panthers were led by Ben Ostermiller, who scored 188 points.

“He was good at driving to the basket for layups or short jumpers,” Stenlund said.

Beyond the arc the Panthers were paced by Cody Fisher, who made 25 3-pointers and likely shot around 40% for the year.

Defensively, Brady Harvey led the way.

“He was a great help defender and without a doubt our leading rebounder,” Stenlund said.

Throughout the season the Panthers continued improving, with Stenlund noting that one of the most improved all-around players was Eli Dallman.

“His defense went from hardly thinking about playing defense to being one of my hardest workers on the defensive end,” Stenlund said. “He got very good at helping at correct times and correctly denying opposing players cutting to the basket.”

He also mentioned that Dallman’s scoring improved down the stretch, averaging 12 points per game over the final five games to lead the team.

Stenlund also said Sawyer Wormald became one of the most improved players over the course of the season.

“He was the best on the team at taking what we practiced and using that knowledge during games,” Stenlund said. “He was rarely out of position and ended up being a player I could count on defensively.”

The team continued to grow as a unit defensively, he said, especially improving with defensive help positioning as well as defending the pick and roll.

“I would venture to say we ended up becoming a very decent defensive team. It was fun to watch that come together,” Stenlund said.

However, overall Stenlund said that one of the biggest weaknesses of the team was taking what they practiced and implementing it into games.

He said it was fun to watch the team earn a win against all of the teams in the Big Horn Basin, while also getting wins against a lot of 3A teams.

Stenlund hopes the team continues to work on the mental aspect of the game, as they already possess strong physical talents and skills, with the mental being the one area needed for improvement.

“They have so many physical talents and skills, it’s the thinking part of the game where they could move themselves to the next level,” Stenlund said. “I hope they continue to have fun competing with each other and cheering each other on when they do well.”