A dominant performance opened 2024 for the Powell Panther boys’ basketball team, heading to Cowley and finishing with a 71-19 victory over the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies.

POWELL 71, ROCKY MOUNTAIN 19

Hoping to continue an undefeated season, the No. 2-ranked Panthers (5-0) came out with a strong intensity against the 2A Grizzlies (2-8) on the road.

Two steals inside the first minute led to baskets from Gunnar Erickson and Marshall Lewis, helping set the tone for Powell.

Powell quickly built a double-digit advantage, making it 12-0 midway through the first quarter.

“It’s always important for us to come out focused and locked in defensively,” coach Mike Heny said. “We are at our best when everyone is engaged on the defensive end of the floor and that really helps us jumpstart our offense. We thought we could get after them in the full court and had worked on that particular defense over the break.”

Rocky got its first basket late in the first, making it 19-2 with just under two minutes left.

The Panthers continued to finish strong, and took a 23-2 lead into the second quarter.

Starting the second quarter Keona Wisniewski hit two straight 3-pointers, and Powell continued to push.

The lead grew out to as much as 41-2 before the Grizzlies got on the board again, and Powell ended the half with a 49-8 lead.

“Each matchup we have is different and that dictates what our defensive game plan will be,” Heny said. “We will use full-court pressure at times when I feel we can take advantage of certain matchups. Otherwise, we take a lot of pride in our half-court man-to-man and hopefully we can continue to make teams work really hard to get good shots.”

Out of the locker room the game hit a running clock due to the more than 40-point advantage by the Panthers, but Powell continued to push.

Just over three minutes into the third quarter the Panthers built a 60-13 lead, and all of the starters did not play over the final 13 minutes of the game.

The Panther bench continued to play strong defense and maintain the intensity, with Powell cruising over the second half to a 71-19 victory.

Every Panther got on the court and scored in the contest, led by Wisniewski with 15, while Lewis and Trey Stenerson each had 11.

Stenerson added seven total rebounds, all offensive, Erickson led with six steals and Alex Jordan led with four assists.

“Any time we can get the entire bench into the game for some significant minutes it’s a positive outcome,” Heny said. “The starters played unbelievably well and that allowed our other guys to play a lot, even though the time went fast with the running clock after halftime. It’s also a great night when every kid in the book scores.”

BIG HORN BASIN CLASSIC

After the victory the Panthers will head out on the road this weekend to Thermopolis on Friday for the Big Horn Basin Classic.

Powell will take on 2A Wind River (1-7) at noon and 3A East opponent Glenrock (2-3) at 6 p.m. on Friday.

“We just want to continue to improve and work on being our best in each and every game we play,” Heny said. “The key for us is to stay focused on our next opponent and continue to build on our strengths and improve in the areas we struggle with at times.”

If the Panthers win both games they will advance to the semifinals on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against No. 3-ranked Thermopolis (6-2), 1A Burlington (4-5 overall, 0-1 1A Northwest) or 2A Greybull (2-8).

The Panthers will be attempting to return to the championship game on Saturday after falling short in the semifinals last year. The championship game will be at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

All rankings are courtesy of the WyoPreps Coaches and Media Poll.

POWELL 71, ROCKY MOUNTAIN 19

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Keona Wisniewski 15, Marshall Lewis 11, Trey Stenerson 11, Jhett Schwahn 8, Gunnar Erickson 8, Alex Jordan 6, Brock Johnson 4, Evan Whitlock 2, Nathan Preator 2, Dawson Griffin 2, Cade Queen 2

Rebounds — Trey Stenerson 7 (7), Jhett Schwahn 5 (1), Alex Jordan 4 (2), Cade Queen 4 (2), Marshall Lewis 3 (2), Brock Johnson 3 (2), Gunnar Erickson 2 (1), Evan Whitlock 1 (1), Nathan Preator 1

Assists — Alex Jordan 4, Marshall Lewis 2, Jhett Schwahn 2, Cade Queen 2, Brock Johnson 1, Trey Stenerson 1, Dawson Griffin 1, Gunnar Erickson 1

Steals — Gunnar Erickson 6, Brock Johnson 4, Jhett Schwahn 3, Alex Jordan 3, Keona Wisniewski 2, Cade Queen 2, Marshall Lewis 1, Nathan Preator 1, Trey Stenerson 1

Blocks — Brock Johnson 2, Trey Stenerson 1