Bulldogs stop Powell ahead of regional tournament

The Lovell Bulldogs tuned up for the playoffs Thursday with a 58-48 conference win over the Powell Panthers in Powell in the final game of the regular season.

Coach Shane Durtsche said the Bulldogs’ performance wasn’t the best, but the team was working to put a starting lineup back together after an ankle injury to center Kyle Wilson sidelined the senior for the previous two weekends. He also said Powell played well.

“I thought Powell played well, and we weren’t at our best. A lot of that is them, and some of that is us,” Durtsche said. “I kind of thought offensively we’d maybe be out of sorts as we try to get our lineup back together. I brought Kyle back. We started him. I just thought, mentally, the best thing to do was just start him. And it’s not Kyle; it’s nothing like that. But as you try to get everybody back on the same page after a couple of weeks out, I expected some of offense to not quite have that same flow. We’ve got to get our continuity back. And so it wasn’t totally unexpected, but I just thought we were a little off.”

The Bulldogs were solid but not spectacular. They doubled up Powell 14-7 in the first quarter and edged the home team 12-11 in the second to lead 26-18 at halftime. Strong scoring by Owen Walker and Kaeson Anderson – 7 and 6 points, respectively – helped the Bulldogs win the third 16-11 and enter the final quarter with a 42-29 lead. A trio of three-pointers by Landon Hyde helped the Panthers win the fourth, 19-16, cutting the final margin to 10 points.

“It was one of those nights where maybe a couple of us were off a little bit mentally. Our focus just wasn’t quite there,” Durtsche said. “I thought the effort was there. We just weren’t clicking on all cylinders. Now that being said, we still led most of that game, by double figures. We were usually up 12 to 15 points, and I think our biggest lead was 16 or 18, and then they got hot and cut it to seven in the fourth quarter. It reminded me of the regional game last year in the semis when they just got hot.

“They did that for a stretch in the fourth quarter and cut it to seven. But as this was happening, I’ll be honest, I was never concerned that we may lose that game, but at the same time, and I did tell our assistants on the bench that this is good for us. This isn’t a bad thing for us to go through.”

Despite some solid defense from Matthew Newman Powell senior Nathan Preator scored 17 points, hitting some tough, contested shots, Durtsche said. But Anderson shut down PHS senior Taeson Schultz, holding him to 2 points, the coach said.

“Kaeson has really done a nice job this year of stepping up and being that defensive stopper for (a team’s) best perimeter guy,” Durtsche said. “And he’s taking on that challenge. He wants that, he relishes that.”

Walker had an outstanding game for the Bulldogs, finishing with 18 points on eight-of-12 shooting from the field, pulling down 17 rebounds and blocking five shots. Newman and Anderson scored 15 points each, Sam Mayes 4 and Owen Edwards, Cash Wassmer and Wilson 2 apiece. Newman tallied seven assists and six rebounds for the Bulldogs, Wilson five boards and three assists. Walker and Anderson had three assists apiece, as well.

Lovell shot 47 percent from the field, Powell 29 percent, and Lovell won the battle of the boards 37-28 while blocking 11 shots to Powell’s one.

Summing up, Durtsche said the team learned some lessons from the game but added that it’s always good to learn lessons in a win, rather than a loss.

“Powell outplayed us. They did. And we still won by 10 points on their home floor. What a luxury,” Durtsche said. “We had that lesson learned, and trust me, my kids learned it.”

Regional tournament

The Bulldogs now turn their attention to the 3A West Regional Tournament, which they will host this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Now 20-2 overall, 10-0 in conference games and riding a 12-game winning streak, the top-ranked Bulldogs open play tonight (Thursday) at 6 p.m. at Winterholler Gym against the Lyman Eagles, who the Bulldogs beat 70-40 in Lyman on February 20. Lyman actually matches up with the Bulldogs’ height better than most other teams, Durtsche said.

“They’ve got some length. They’ve got a few athletes,” Durtsche said. “As far as anybody else in our conference, I’d say they, and maybe Worland, match up with us size wise. So they pose some problems there.

“They’re a scrappy group of kids. They’re going to play hard. They’re well coached. They’ll come in confident and ready to battle.”

If the Bulldogs win, they’ll play the winner of the Lander-Worland game Friday at 7:30 p.m. If the Bulldogs survive talented Lander or a tall Worland team, they would play in the championship game Saturday at 2 p.m.

Durtsche said other than his team being the favorite, the tournament is wide open, with many teams having beaten other teams throughout the season. For instance, he said, Powell finished the conference season as the seventh seed in the tournament but defeated second seed Cody by 16 points, 52-36, Friday night. And on Thursday, Lander beat Lyman by just four points, and Cody beat Worland by two.

“It’s totally wide open. I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” Durtsche said.

The last time Lovell hosted a regional tournament was 1992, Durtsche’s senior year, he said, when Lovell hosted the 1A-2A Northwest Conference Tournament.

“I’m excited for the community and for us,” Durtsche said. “Selfishly, it’s going to be awesome to be home, and plus, we’ve played quite well on our own floor this year, so that helps.”