Second at shootout

Panther boys fall a game short of championship

By Steve Moseley
Posted 1/21/20

The Panthers came away from the 2020 Big Horn Basin Shootout with a 3-1 record, though the “1” they wanted most got away.

After defeating Burlington (52-30) and Wind River (47-26) on …

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Second at shootout

Panther boys fall a game short of championship

Posted

The Panthers came away from the 2020 Big Horn Basin Shootout with a 3-1 record, though the “1” they wanted most got away.

After defeating Burlington (52-30) and Wind River (47-26) on Friday, and Rocky Mountain (52-47) on Saturday, all at home, Powell qualified for the title game Saturday night at Lovell opposite Worland. With the championship on the line the Warriors were impressive, winning 83-51.

Powell’s Shootout began against Burlington with “a game that we controlled,” said coach Chase Kistler.

“I thought we had some careless turnovers” that were “caused from playing too fast,” Kistler said. “But we rebounded well and played good team defense. They played a lot of zone vs. us which is a change, but I thought our team handled it well and found some open shots.”

The Panthers led 11-6 after the first period and were up by more than double at halftime, 30-12. The game was effectively over with Powell leading 45-18 after three.

Junior Landon Lengfelder’s 14 points, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range, led scoring for Kistler’s crew. Jesse Brown and Mason Marchant netted nine and eight. Marchant pulled down nine rebounds. Jayden Marchant was credited with four assists and Trevor Groves had four steals against the Huskies.

In the win over the Wind River Cougars, Powell started fast and led 31-15 at intermission. Out-gunned Wind River found itself digging out of a 41-19 hole at the end of three.

Brown and Mason Marchant went off for 17 and 16 points, respectively, in helping guide the Panthers to victory. Adrian Geller with seven and Brown’s six led Powell on the boards.

Against the Cougars, Kistler said, “I was impressed with our defense. We did not give up easy shots or layups. Aiden Jacobsen really played well on defense and against their guards which led to some points off turnovers.”

“We again saw zone and played well inside,” the coach said, adding, “I thought our shot selection really helped us control the game.”

The win over Rocky Mountain began much like the Panthers’ earlier game opposite the Grizzlies, except in reverse.

During the teams’ last meeting in Cowley, the Grizzlies came out of the gate on fire and ran up a lead of 15-0 from which Powell never recovered. This time it was the Panthers returning the favor, sprinting to a 13-2 lead right from the jump and picking up a quality win against a good team.

Mason Marchant led the Panther scoring column with 19 to which Lengfelder added 15 — all on made 3-pointers. He shot 50 percent behind the arc in the game.

Marchant made it a double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds. No other player on either team pulled down more than the seven credited to Rocky’s Taylor Winland.

“Rocky Mountain was a great test for us to see how we would respond,” said Kistler. “We had 16 turnovers and 32 rebounds which really helped us get that. Also, it was a close back and forth game with us having to hit some shots at the end to secure the win.”

With the title on the line against Worland, the Panthers ran into a suffocating defense that was equally effective in the full- and half-court.

Mason Marchant scored the first five points for Powell on a three and a follow-up two and Powell was ahead 5-4. Worland’s swarming ball pressure kicked into high gear had the Warriors up 15-5 with 2:21 left in the first. About then is when coach Aaron Abel subbed in a whole new platoon of Warrior attackers.

It was 22-5 at the end of the first period. With Powell stuck on five, Worland raced to 30 before Mason Marchant ended the Warriors’ run of 26 unanswered points with a bucket at 5:20 of the second.

By halftime the Panthers had worked their way to 20 with 38 on the Warriors’ side of the board. The count was 66-41 after three quarters.

Mason Marchant and Adrian Geller, a talented junior duo, were the top scorers against Worland with 18 and 14. No other Panther netted more than five. Geller led the Panthers in rebounding with five.

“Worland plays very aggressive full-court defense and even when you thought you were in the clear, they would trap you in the half-court,” Kistler said. Powell’s 21 turnovers led to 31 points for Worland, he said.

“In all I was proud of the weekend over all four games,” which, Kistler said, “gave us a lot of game-time experience. It highlighted what we need to improve on to beat a team of Worland’s caliber.”

Next up for the Panthers is a return encounter Friday night at home when those same Worland Warriors come to call.

 

Powell 52, Burlington 30

Powell – Lengfelder 14, Brown 9, M. Marchant 8, Geller 7, Trevor Groves 6, Landon Sessions 4, Toran Graham 2, Jacobsen 2.

Powell 47, Wind River 26

Powell — Brown 17, M. Marchant 16, Groves 6, Geller 5, Lengfelder 3.

Powell 52, Rocky Mountain 47

Powell — M. Marchant 19, Lengfelder 15, Geller 6, Groves 5, Brown 5, Sessions 2.

Worland 83, Powell 51

Powell — M. Marchant 18, Geller 14, Groves 5, Jacobsen 4, Lengfelder 4, Brown 4. (Two Powell points were unaccounted for on the stat sheet.)

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