A long trip southwest for the No. 3-ranked Powell boys’ basketball team proved a challenge — the Panthers dropped an overtime contest to No. 5-ranked Lyman 54-49 before defeating Mountain View on a Marshall Lewis buzzer-beater on Saturday to salvage a weekend split 44-41.

LYMAN 54, POWELL 49 (OT)

The weekend started in Lyman, where the Panthers (12-6 overall, 2-2 3A Northwest) and Eagles (13-6 overall, 3-1 3A Southwest) battled in a matchup of No. 2 teams in their respective quadrants.

Scoring was slow for both teams early, with the only points over the first three minutes for the Panthers coming on a Brock Johnson jumper with the score tied 2-2.

Over the final five minutes of the first, the Eagles outscored the Panthers 9-2 and took an 11-4 lead into the second quarter.

Trailing 13-4 the Panthers went on an 11-0 run started by a pair of Alex Jordan free throws and capped off by five straight points from Gunnar Erickson to take their first lead 15-13.

Despite the scoring streak and taking the lead with 4:22 left in the half, Powell was held scoreless the remainder of the half and trailed 20-15 going into the locker room.

Lyman pushed the lead out to eight multiple times in the third, before Powell cut the deficit down to two — trailing 31-29 going into the fourth quarter.

Trey Stenerson tied the game on a layup just over a minute into the fourth quarter, but Lyman continued to fight back and take the lead.

Jordan gave Powell the lead back midway through fourth quarter on a second effort, as Powell tried to close out the game up 37-35.

Both teams battled over the final four minutes, and the game was tied at 40 with a minute left.

With under a minute both teams had an opportunity to win the game at the charity stripe, but the two went a combined 0-4 at the line and Lyman missed a layup just before the buzzer to send the game into overtime tied at 40.

“We had our opportunities to put the game away in the fourth quarter and just didn’t make a couple of plays here and there to finish the deal,” coach Mike Heny said. “Brock had a huge second half but we need to find more consistency in our scoring so we don’t have to play from behind as much.”

The two teams continued to exchange baskets in the extra session, and a Johnson 3-pointer cut the Panthers’ deficit down to 49-47 with 1:31 left.

Lyman extended its lead back out at the free throw line after Johnson sank two of his own, and the Panthers trailed 52-49 with the ball.

Powell was unable to get a quality shot and turned the ball over, which resulted in a layup for Lyman to make the final score 54-49.

“The Lyman game was another example of us playing well enough to win, but not being able to close out the game like a few of our other losses earlier this season,” Heny said. “Lyman is a really good team and we gave ourselves a shot to win on their floor. Hopefully if we run into them again at regionals we’ll be on the right side of the scoreboard.”

Johnson finished with 17 points, followed by Erickson with 14 — both players finished with nine rebounds in the contest.

POWELL 44, MOUNTAIN VIEW 41

After the difficult loss on Friday night the Panthers looked to bounce back against Mountain View (2-18 overall, 0-4 3A Southwest), with a chance to play in the gym where regionals will be held next week.

Offense again was slow for Powell early, with three Marshall Lewis free throws and a pair of Johnson free throws being the only points for Powell midway through the quarter trailing 7-5.

Powell started to break down the 2-3 zone from the Buffalos, taking a 14-13 lead into the second quarter after a 3-pointer by Jordan.

“Mountain View does a really good job of taking away anything around the basket so we had to be more patient and move the ball from side to side in order to get clean looks at the basket,” Heny said. “The kids did a great job of screening the zone at times and looking for gaps that they could attack. The Mountain View gym is a tough place to shoot the ball and you have to have patience and continue to take good shots.”

Mountain View came out strong over the first three minutes of the second, going on a 9-0 run to take a 22-14 lead.

Stenerson stopped the bleeding on a layup, starting an 8-0 Powell run that was capped off by a pair of Stenerson free throws that tied the game at 22 late in the half.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, a 3-pointer at the buzzer rattled in for the Buffalos to give them a 25-22 lead at the half.

Mountain View continued to maintain the lead throughout the third quarter, and another basket before the buzzer gave the Buffalos a 35-31 lead going into the fourth.

Powell took the lead back early in the fourth quarter after a pair of Jhett Schwahn free throws made it 36-35.

The two teams exchanged the lead multiple times, until Mountain View tied the game at 41 with 1:40 left.

Both teams had opportunities to take the lead, but Mountain View appeared to have the final opportunity with 10 seconds left.

The Buffalo’s chance shot went long — giving Stenerson an opportunity to run with four seconds left.

He took it the length of the court and shoveled it back to a trailing Lewis.

His shot went up and hit at the buzzer — giving the Panthers the dramatic 44-41 victory.

“We really needed to find a way to win on Saturday and come away with a split after not getting it done on Friday night,” Heny said. “Any time you can come away with a win on a difficult road trip, you feel good about how things went. Although we lost a tough overtime game at Lyman, the kids came out with the right attitude and battled their way to the end. Marshall’s three at the buzzer was a great way to finish the road trip and will hopefully give us the confidence that we can win tough games no matter what the situation.”

Erickson was the lone Panther in double figures, finishing with 13 points in the victory.

REGULAR SEASON FINALE

Powell returns back to the northwest portion of Wyoming to wrap up the regular season, starting out with a Thursday game on the road in Lovell at 7 p.m. (8-10 overall, 1-3 3A Northwest).

“Lovell has been playing extremely well and Thursday night’s game will be a huge challenge for us,” Heny said. “We need to continue to work on our ability to get good shots within the offense. We were much better this weekend, but to win these next two games we have to be at our best.”

The Panthers then return home for their season finale on Saturday, taking on Thermopolis (4-16 overall, 0-4 3A Northwest) at 4 p.m. for senior night.

“We will then have to get ready for a scrappy Thermopolis team on senior night and hopefully we’ll be able to get some momentum heading into regionals next week,” Heny said.

Powell will need to win one of two games in order to secure the No. 2 seed out of the northwest heading into the 3A Regionals next week in Mountain View starting on Thursday.

LYMAN 54, POWELL 49 (OT)

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Brock Johnson 17, Gunnar Erickson 14, Trey Stenerson 8, Alex Jordan 5, Marshall Lewis 3, Cade Queen 2

Rebounds — Brock Johnson 9 (2), Gunnar Erickson 9 (2), Trey Stenerson 7 (3), Cade Queen 3 (1), Alex Jordan 3 (2), Marshall Lewis 2 (1), Jace Hyde 1

Assists — Marshall Lewis 2, Gunnar Erickson 2, Brock Johnson 1, Trey Stenerson 1, Jace Hyde 1, Jhett Schwahn 1, Alex Jordan 1

Steals — Gunnar Erickson 5, Marshall Lewis 3, Brock Johnson 3, Jhett Schwahn 2

Blocks — Jhett Schwahn 1

POWELL 44, MOUNTAIN VIEW 41

Points — Gunnar Erickson 13, Jhett Schwahn 8, Trey Stenerson 7, Marshall Lewis 6, Brock Johnson 5, Alex Jordan 3, Cade Queen 2

Rebounds — Trey Stenerson 7 (5), Brock Johnson 6 (1), Jhett Schwahn 5 (3), Jace Hyde 4 (3), Gunnar Erickson 4 (2), Alex Jordan 3 (1)

Assists — Trey Stenerson 3, Jace Hyde 2, Gunnar Erickson 2, Marshall Lewis 1, Brock Johnson 1

Steals — Brock Johnson 3, Jhett Schwahn 2, Trey Stenerson 1, Jace Hyde 1, Cade Queen 1, Gunnar Erickson 1

Blocks — Jhett Schwahn 1