Bobcats face quality team in Powell

The Hot Springs County High School boys basketball team was in Powell last weekend for the opening of conference play and for a rematch against the Panthers. The Powell team had played very well the weekend before, winning the Big Horn Basin Classic in Thermopolis. The Panthers came into the contest undefeated at 9 and 0.

The Bobcats came out a little flat, and while they didn’t play poorly, they were just unable to outshine the play of the Panthers. Kanyon Gerber demonstrated he has a flair for the back-door cut, leaving Powell looking a bit shaken. Brody Potter had a good game, including a highlight reel block of a shot by the proficient shooter, Brook Johnson. Del Dukes had 9 points (including a 3 pointer) and Armani Dukes had 7 points. As a whole, the team showed skill boxing out, and pulled down some impressive offensive and defensive rebounds.

The team from Powell is loaded with seniors, and their game reflects the additional time they have had to play together as a team. They push the pace of the game, and are sure-handed, both inside and outside the arc. Brook Johnson put up 21 of the Panthers 68 total points.

The Cats came into the game shooting 55% from the free-throw line, however, they only managed 50% for the game against Powell, leading to missed opportunities to hold the score close.

With the heavy press that Powell deploys, Thermopolis suffered from a lack of patience in looking for quality shooting opportunities and that too had an effect.

Coach Shane Corpening said, “We still need to make some tweaks to our offense, and we’ll work on that, but our rebounding was a definite plus.”

Up next, the Cats will face Worland on Thursday, and on Friday they are up against Lovell at home, who coach Corpening says ”has some legitimate offensive threats.”

See the school calendar on this page for game times.