The Powell Panther boys’ basketball team is riding high heading into the winter break. Powell ran past Park County rival Cody on Friday — defeating the Broncs 73-52 in Powell.

POWELL 73, CODY 52

Playing at home for the first time this season, the Panthers (4-0) took on the Broncs (1-4), looking to start the season 4-0 and head into the winter break unbeaten.

The visitors battled, with the game tied at six three minutes in.

Cody continued its strong shooting early, holding the lead at 14-8.

Powell stormed back powered by two 3-pointers by Alex Jordan and Keona Wisniewski to tie the game at 16 with a minute left in the first.

Cody finished with a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, giving the Broncs a 19-16 lead heading into the second.

“Between quarters I told the team we needed to be better defensively,” coach Mike Heny said. “We were giving up too many easy buckets and allowed Cody to get into a rhythm on the perimeter. Cody is a good team but I thought our intensity on the defensive end wasn’t where it needed to be.”

After Cody held a 19-17 lead Jordan hit two more 3-pointers, giving Powell the lead with just over six left in the second quarter.

“Alex has been playing really well this year and that offensive punch he is bringing off the bench has been a big lift,” Heny said. “With his length and shooting ability it really creates favorable matchups for us when those first rotations happen.”

That was a lead the Panthers didn’t relinquish.

Starting to clamp down on the defensive end, Powell quickly expanded the lead and capitalized against the Broncs after they reached the five foul limit for the second quarter with four minutes left.

“Our effort on the defensive end really picked up when we came out in the second quarter,” Heny said. “For us, our defense dictates our offense. When the kids are on point and playing together defensively, that usually translates into good offense.”

Powell built the advantage to 36-25 after a Gunnar Erickson layup with just over two minutes left in the half.

It was as many as 13, but Cody made a small run before the break to make it 41-31 going into the half.

Cody scored the first basket out of the break, but Erickson scored the next five along with a Jhett Schwahn basket to give Powell a 15-point advantage.

“It was good to see Gunnar shoot the ball like he is capable of and Trey [Stenerson] is really starting to dominate the inside for us on a nightly basis,” Heny said.

The lead only continued to swell, after Cody once again hit the foul limit halfway through the quarter and sent Powell to the line on any foul the rest of the third quarter.

Powell pushed, extending the run after the Broncs scored the first points to the tune of a 16-0 scoring spree.

The Panthers went into the fourth with a strong lead up 62-38.

Powell was able to get more rotation and minutes in from its bench, and cruised to a 73-52 win over the visiting Broncs.

“I feel like we have one of the deepest and most talented benches in 3A,” Heny said.

Erickson led with 22 points, six assists and three steals. Trey Stenerson had 15 points and six rebounds, while Brock Johnson and Jordan tied with 11 points.

“Getting four guys in double figures with Brock, Alex, Gunnar and Trey really shows how well we moved the ball and how unselfish this group is,” Heny said.

The victory over Cody was Powell’s fourth straight in the series.

WINTER BREAK

Powell will head into the winter break on a high, starting 4-0 for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

“Over the break we will make sure we don’t lose too much of our conditioning and put another couple of offensive actions in place to get ready for the conference part of our schedule,” Heny said. “We still have some fundamental skills that we need to improve on so we are most consistent in a few areas. What is really encouraging is that we finished out the pre-break part of our schedule 4-0 and still have a lot of things we can do better and improve upon.”

Powell will take time to rest and practice over the next three weeks before taking on Rocky Mountain in Cowley on Friday, Jan. 5.

POWELL 73, CODY 52

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Gunnar Erickson 22, Trey Stenerson 15, Brock Johnson 11, Alex Jordan 11, Keona Wisniewski 6, Marshall Lewis 5, Jhett Schwahn 3

Rebounds — Trey Stenerson 6 (3), Keona Wisniewski 5 (2), Brock Johnson 4 (1), Alex Jordan 3 (1), Marshall Lewis 2, Nathan Preator 1, Jhett Schwahn 1

Assists — Gunnar Erickson 6, Brock Johnson 4, Trey Stenerson 2, Jhett Schwahn 2, Marshall Lewis 1, Keona Wisniewski 1

Steals — Gunnar Erickson 3, Marshall Lewis 1, Brock Johnson 1, Trey Stenerson 1, Alex Jordan 1

Blocks — Gunnar Erickson 1