What a difference from a year ago.

Opening a year ago in the Strannigan Classic the Powell Panther boys’ basketball team played four overtime periods and left with a 1-2 record to open the season. This time the Panthers finished with successive wins over Lander 61-34, Jackson 63-58 and Pinedale 55-49 to start the season undefeated.

POWELL 61, LANDER 34

Starting in Lander, the Panthers (3-0) took on the Tigers (0-3) in a true road test to kick off the 2023-24 campaign.

Early on neither team could find the basket, and Powell led 6-4 with three minutes left in the first quarter.

A late push behind the strong play of returning All-State selection Brock Johnson helped Powell gain a 14-6 lead after the first quarter.

Defense continued to help the Panthers hold the lead, but Lander cut into it to trail 14-10.

A 15-0 run sparked by a Trey Stenerson layup and capped off by a Cade Queen putback opened up a 29-10 Panther lead.

Powell continued to push before the half, but a shot at the buzzer by Lander made it 33-17 in favor of the Panthers heading into the locker room.

After the break the Panthers opened with another quick 8-0 run and holding the Tigers scoreless over the first four minutes to open up a 25-point lead.

“Even though we didn’t shoot it from the perimeter like we are capable, the kids really executed well on defense and forced Lander into a lot of mistakes that we were able to capitalize on,” coach Mike Heny said.

Powell continued to score alongside a strong defensive effort and took a 47-23 lead into the fourth.

In the final quarter the Panthers took advantage of their depth, getting playing minutes for the bench en route to a 61-34 win.

“It’s always good to go on the road and get a win on the opponent’s home floor,” Heny said. 

POWELL 63, JACKSON 58

Heading over to Riverton on Friday the Panthers went to Central Wyoming College to take on 4A Jackson (0-4).

Another strong start by Johnson helped the Panthers build a small lead, up 15-13 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Panthers started strong, expanding the lead out to 22-15 three minutes in.

Jackson responded late as the Panthers failed to break down the Broncs’ zone, and closed the gap at halftime.

A scorekeeping debacle late in the half led to confusion of the score, and Powell trailed 26-25 at the break.

Powell regained the lead early in the second half, beginning to break down the 3-2 zone better and earning better scoring opportunities.

“The kids were finally able to find the gaps and they did a better job of attacking from underneath the zone instead of just drifting around the 3-point line,” Heny said. “They did a much better job of working the ball inside-out which gave us some open looks and better driving lanes to attack.”

After a 12-0 run, the Panthers held the lead despite a small run by the Broncs to make it 39-33.

Late in the quarter, Powell fouled a Jackson shooter on a 3-pointer which gave Jackson three free throws with seconds left and the Broncs cut the lead down to four.

Fortunately for Powell, Keona Wisniewski came back and hit a buzzer beater from half court to give Powell a 47-40 lead going into the fourth.

Jackson continued to be led by Seb Brunner, who was hitting 3-pointers consistently from deep against the Panthers.

“I told the kids to just keep challenging his shot and hopefully we could force a few misses or get him out of his rhythm a little bit,” Heny said. “He was making some really difficult shots even though I felt like we were playing pretty good defense on him. Late in the game, we made him take really tough shots and finally were able to force some misses.”

Jackson cut the lead down close to 57-53 in the fourth, but the Panthers held off any comeback attempt and finished 8-10 at the charity stripe in the final frame to earn a 63-58 victory.

POWELL 55, PINEDALE 49

After surviving a push by the Broncs on Friday, the Panthers turned their attention to the Wranglers (1-2) on Saturday trying to finish the weekend unbeaten.

In the first quarter both teams went toe-to-toe, matching basket for basket with the Panthers holding a slight edge 14-11 after a pair of Alex Jordan free throws with less than a second left.

An 8-0 run kicked off the second quarter, capped off by a Jordan layup that made it a double digit advantage up 22-11 less than two minutes in.

Pinedale continued to stay in the contest, cutting the lead down slightly and heading into the half trailing 27-20.

Out of the break the Wranglers came out on fire, opening up with a 15-4 run and gaining the lead in the first three minutes.

Pinedale continued its strong shooting, pushing the lead out to 40-33 with just minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Powell did not panic.

“Basketball is a game of runs and you just need to be able to keep things close and buckle down defensively,” Heny said. “Pinedale is an extremely talented team and have really good shooters, so it wasn’t surprising that they got going in the third quarter.”

Despite the Wranglers holding onto their lead, the Panthers made a small 5-0 run just before the break to cut the lead down to 43-41.

Powell regained the lead in the fourth on an acrobatic finish by Gunnar Erickson, a foul and a technical on a player returning to the Pinedale bench gave Powell an opportunity to extend the lead at the charity stripe.

The Panthers missed three straight free throws, unable to extend the 47-45 lead.

Powell eventually made its free throws, pushing the lead out to multiple possessions while stifling the Wrangler attack.

The Panthers finished the game late, earning a 55-49 win to move to 3-0 on the early season.

“Every time we play Pinedale we know it’s going to be a tough contest and the kids used last year’s experience in the double overtime loss to stay calm and not panic,” Heny said. “This group has played so many close games and that experience really stood out in the second half.”

RIVALRY GAME FRIDAY

Powell will now return home for the first time this season after the weekend away in Fremont County.

That schedule will start with a Park County rivalry, taking on the Cody Broncs (1-2) at 7 p.m. on Friday.

“At this point in the season we just want to keep getting better each day and work to polish up our execution in all three phases,” Heny said. “The Cody game is always a great environment for a high school basketball game and it’s a game both teams really want to win. It seems the games are always close and often come down to a few plays late in the fourth quarter.”

Powell opened the season as the No. 2-ranked team in 3A in the WyoPreps Coaches and Media Poll, while the Broncs are unranked in 4A.

This will be the final contest for the Panthers before a two week winter break.

Full stats were unavailable as of press time.