It was déjà vu all over again.

Much like a year ago, the Powell High School boys’ basketball team found new life at the 3A West Regional tournament and qualified for state.

Last week, the Panthers fell to Big Piney (61-52, 55-54) in the first and last of their four games at the 2020 regional in Lyman, but avenged late season losses to Pinedale (61-35) and Lovell (67-65) in games three and four.

How did head coach Chase Kistler and his young men pull off such a dramatic turnaround against Pinedale’s Wranglers and get past Lovell on the heels of a recent loss to the Bulldogs?

“We were on kind of a losing streak” to end the regular season, Kistler said. “As a team we were kind of seeing a trend” that had nothing to do with Xs and Os. It was “more so playing as a team,” an area where the Panthers slipped near the end of their schedule.

“We had a team meeting last Monday [March 2] and hashed out what it means to be a team,” Kistler said. “You have a role or a responsibility. You have to fill that role to the best of your ability. I think that’s really what was holding us back.”

The take away from that soul-searching session?

“We need to either get together as a team or we’re going to be home Friday,” he said. The Panthers (11-13 overall) rallied to make it not only to Saturday’s action at regionals, but to this week’s state tourney in Casper.

Powell 67, Lovell 65

In the first and most important of Saturday’s two games, Lovell (6-16) had the look of a winner late. The Bulldogs erased a 10-point PHS lead in the fourth quarter and, in the final 15 seconds, Bulldog CJ Pickett laced in a clutch three to put his team up one.

The situation was truly dire for Powell; however, predictions of the Panthers’ demise were soon proved to be greatly exaggerated.

At the end of those last desperate, chaotic ticks of the clock, Panther junior Landon Lengfelder answered with a well-defended, step-back 3-pointer at the buzzer on a scramble play. The shot sent Panther faithful into pandemonium both in the gym in Lyman and huddled around their radios back home. The game — Powell’s second win over the Bulldogs in three meetings this season — was the only one that mattered for the fact it assured another Panther run at state this Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Casper.

“Their defense is really stingy,” Kistler said of the Bulldogs. “They were playing the best team basketball I’ve ever seen. They hit their free throws and stuck around,” refusing to let the Panthers get out of reach.

Pickett’s three, said the Powell coach, was a howitzer shot “from 6 or 7 feet behind the 3-point line” that stunned everyone, including Kistler.

The good news? “It gave us one opportunity with time left,” the coach said.

Lengfelder’s winning shot was “nothing how I drew it up,” Kistler said, because “they jumped into a zone defense at the end,” surprising Powell.

“Landon hit it with two guys in his face,” he said — just in the nick of time to save the day.

Lengfelder was the top scorer in the game with 22 points helped by 4-10 accuracy from three and 4-4 at the line. Mason Marchant hit for 16, Adrian Geller for 14 and Jesse Brown added 11.

Pickett led the Bulldogs with 21 points, including five makes from three. Zeke Newman and Aden Mayes scored 14 apiece.

The game was a 33-33 deadlock at halftime. Powell outpointed the Bulldogs 22-12 in the third only to have Lovell pull off a reversal and win the fourth, 20-12.

The Panthers pulled down 29 rebounds, led by Mason Marchant with 11. Lovell’s answer of 24 included a team-high nine from Mayes.

Mason and brother Jaden Marchant distributed the ball to the tune of six and five assists. Lengfelder and Aidan Jacobsen were credited with three and two steals. Turnovers were a near wash, at 17 for Powell to Lovell’s 14.

Powell 61, Pinedale 35

The Panthers lost by 10 to the Wranglers (6-17) in a weather-postponed game that was finally played in Lander near the end of the season.

The unlikely 36-point turnaround had much to do with the better team mentality in Panther heads.

“We shot a lot better,” said Kistler, “but our defensive energy was a lot better” the second time around against the Wranglers. “Our defense just smothered them. We turned defense into offense” and “played fast.”

“No one really believes how important it is to play as a team,” Kistler added. “It’s more important than anything.”

The dribble-driving, shoot-or-dish Mason Marchant led the way in the scoring column with 18 points on three field goals and a remarkable 12-14 at the line. As a team, Powell was 17-32 (53%) converting free throws.

Jacobsen, a senior, hit for nine points. The Panthers made four buckets from three in 21 chances led by Lengfelder’s two. Powell was 48% on all field goals including 19% from three.

Big Piney 61, Powell 52

Big Piney 55, Powell 54

The Punchers had Powell’s number this season, going 3-0 against the Panthers to end the regular season and regional tournament. In Thursday’s opening round of regionals, Big Piney used hot shooting to put Powell on the brink of elimination, winning 61-52.

However, PHS rallied with the victories over Pinedale and Lovell — and had a great chance to win Saturday’s rematch for third.

“That second time was a battle. They matched up pretty well to us and they are well coached,” Kistler said of the 18-7 Punchers. “We had our chances to beat them at the end. We had the last shot with time running out.”

Unfortunately for the Panthers, a potential game-winning layup from Brown would not fall at the buzzer.

“We had him [Brown] all the way to the rim for a layup right at the end,” Kistler said. “I’m sure Jesse is still hurting.”

The Panthers, he said, brought the ball inbounds with eight seconds to play “and got to 3 feet in front of the rim. We just missed the point blank one.”

Anyone who has ever been around basketball, however, knows a game is never lost by any individual shot. Any of the myriad opportunities inevitably missed throughout the game are less visible but no less responsible.

Further, with the Panthers already qualified for state, the outcome of the game was academic save for state tourney seeding ramifications.

Mason Marchant put up 18 in the Thursday loss to Big Piney. No other Panther scored more than eight.

In the game for third on Saturday, Jaden Marchant led the way with nine points against the Punchers to which twin brother Mason added eight.

Powell will play at 9 p.m. Friday in the Casper Events Center against Rawlins. Look for a preview of the state tournament in Thursday’s Tribune.

Big Piney 61, Powell 52

Powell — M. Marchant 18, Trevor Groves 8, Brown 6, J. Marchant 5, Jacobsen 4, Geller 4, Lengfelder 3, Sessions 2, Toran Graham 2.

Big Piney — Scoring unavailable

Powell 61, Pinedale 35

Powell — M. Marchant 18, Lengfelder 10, Jacobsen 9, Brown 7, Geller 7, J. Marchant 5, Groves 5.

Pinedale — Scoring unavailable

Powell 67, Lovell 65

Powell — Lengfelder 22, M. Marchant 16, Geller 14, Brown 11, J. Marchant 2, Graham 2.

Lovell — Pickett 21, Mayes 14, Newman 14, Abraham 6, Nichols 5, James 3, Harris 2.

Big Piney 55, Powell 54

Powell — J. Marchant 9, M. Marchant 8, Lengfelder 8, Geller 6, Brown 6, Jacobsen 6, Sessions 4, Graham 4, Groves 3.

Big Piney — Scoring unavailable