Panthers’ basketball season ends at regionals

Posted 3/6/18

“You can just see their improvement from start to finish,” said PHS head coach Chase Kistler. To illustrate his point, Kistler noted that the Panthers lost to Star Valley 64-51 on Thursday — whereas the Braves had beaten Powell 69-36 roughly a …

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Panthers’ basketball season ends at regionals

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The Powell High School boys’ basketball team went 0-2 at the 3A West Regional Tournament over the weekend, bringing a conclusion to their season. But despite a losing (6-17) record for the season, the Panthers improved drastically.

“You can just see their improvement from start to finish,” said PHS head coach Chase Kistler. To illustrate his point, Kistler noted that the Panthers lost to Star Valley 64-51 on Thursday — whereas the Braves had beaten Powell 69-36 roughly a month earlier.

Star Valley 64, Panthers 51

The Panthers, seeded fourth in the 3A West North Quadrant, tipped off against Star Valley’s Braves, the No. 1 seed for the 3A West South Quadrant, on Thursday evening.

“We knew Star Valley was going to be a tough opponent,” Kistler said.

The Panthers played right with the Braves during the first quarter, never trailing by more than three until the final three minutes. In those three minutes of play, the Panthers ran into foul trouble, going into the bonus before the end of the quarter.

After the first period, the score was 19-9 Star Valley. The Braves increased the lead to 37-21 by halftime. In the first half, Powell missed 10 layups and Star Valley had 18 points from the charity stripe, as the

Panthers got into some foul trouble.

“We played hard, the effort was there,” Kistler said of the first half.

At the end of the third quarter, Star Valley led 53-28. The Panthers mounted a comeback during the fourth quarter, outscoring the Braves 23-11, but the deficit was too much to overcome, as Powell lost 64-51.

“The effort was there again. They never quit,” Kistler said. “We just couldn’t make some shots.”

The win advanced Star Valley to the semi-final game where they lost to Cody 60-39. The Braves followed that with a 70-61 loss to Lander.

Pinedale 63, Panthers 52

The loss to Star Valley placed the Panthers against hosting Pinedale Wranglers, seeded No. 3 in the 3A West South Quadrant, in a Friday matchup.

Pinedale lost to Cody 68-51 to start the tournament, so a loss in Friday’s game would mean an end to the season for whichever team came up short.

After the first quarter, Powell trailed Pinedale 14-11 and at the half, the Wranglers had increased the lead to 33-22.

Pinedale went on to win the game 63-52.

“In the end, it wasn’t enough to get out of the hole,” Kistler said of the Panthers’ effort.

Zach Meredith led with 15 points, Kaelan Groves scored 13, Aaron Jacobsen had six and Dalton Woodward had five.

Carson Heinen had two blocked shots.

The Panthers had six steals, two from Jacobsen and Jace Smith and one from Heinen and Luke Washington.

For assists, Groves led with five.

On the boards, Heinen led with nine — all defensive. Meredith had seven, while Groves had six.

The Panthers shot 42 percent from the field, 13 percent at the 3-point arc and 50 percent at the free throw line.

The Wranglers shot 38 percent from the field, 38 percent from the arc and 75 percent from the charity stripe.

The Panthers had 21 turnovers.

For the 3A West Regional Tournament, Cody finished first, Riverton placed second, Pinedale was third and Lander took fourth.

Seniors

The Panther basketball team has five seniors who concluded their high school careers in Pinedale: Meredith, Smith, Jacobsen, Trent Desjarlais and Washington.

“Over the course of their career, to see how much they’ve grown is just amazing,” Kistler said of the seniors.

Meredith was described as a major contributor, a player who opponents had to design game plans around. Kistler said that was “huge.”

Meanwhile, Kistler said Smith was “probably one of the strongest leaders we had on the team.”

Jacobsen had a rough season between injuries and illness, but Kistler said he “was still able to finish out the season much improved.”

Desjarlais was a vocal leader who “picked us up when we were down vocally,” according to Kistler.

As for Washington, he “showed moments of great play, especially toward the end of the season — he stepped up big,” Kistler said.

Going forward and looking to the future of the Panthers program, Kistler said “we just got to keep building.”

The Panthers finished the season 6-17, an improvement from the 3-19 overall record they posted during the 2016-17 season.

Kistler added that offseason work will be key.

“If they want to be the team going to state, they know there’s got to be some out-of-season work that goes into it,” the coach said.

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