PHS comes up short on tennis court

Posted Thursday, September 22, 2016 2:45 pm

By Dan Hoehne

Panther tennis had its last two matches before the regional tournament late last week, and while the results weren’t quite there in the win column, there certainly were reasons.

“This isn’t a good week, or time of the week, with Homecoming being very much a distraction for the kids,” head coach Joe Asay said. “And these are some really strong and experienced programs we’re facing.”

Those two programs, Sheridan and Gillette, showed that ability on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The visiting Broncs swung their way to 4-1 wins against both the Powell boys and girls.

The lone Panther boys win came at No. 2 singles from freshman Jesse Brown, who was looking for a little redemption after taking his first loss of the season a few days earlier at Cody.

Facing Ethan Kutz, Brown took a 6-3, first-set win, but Kutz evened it up with a 6-4 win in the second set.

Brown would then repeat the score of the first set, 6-3, to get the victory.

At No. 1 singles, Rhett Pimentel won three games in his first set loss to Quinton Suska, but couldn’t get into the win column in the second set.

Both the No. 1 doubles (James Sheets and Aaron Jacobsen) and No. 2 doubles (Wade Musso and Nathaniel Whitham) picked up some game wins, but lost in straight sets.

The No. 3 doubles team of Nate Brown and Dylan Preator proved a very tough out early, battling to a 6-7, first-set loss, before the Sheridan duo made things a little easier in the second set, winning 6-2.

On the girls side, the Lady Panthers’ win came at No. 1 singles, where it was a match up of Hattie and Maddie, Powell’s Hattie Pimentel and Sheridan’s Maddie Garneau.

But the similar sound of their first names didn’t reflect much resemblance in their games as Pimentel cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win.

Lauren Asher at No. 2 singles and cousins Sierra and Nicole Sanders, at No. 2 doubles, lost in straight sets, while the other two doubles teams stretched their contests to three sets.

The No. 1 doubles team of Jen Bonanader and Kaylee Meyer got a 6-4 win in their first set, but could only muster four more game wins in the next two, falling 1-6 and 3-6.

No. 3 doubles saw Shayla Shoopman and Sloane Asay in an epic back-and-forth, going to tie-breakers in each of the first two sets and splitting 7-6 and 6-7 scores. The Lady Broncs kicked it up a notch in the third set, however, getting a 6-2 win.

In Saturday morning’s contest against the visiting Gillette Camels, the Lady Panthers made it interesting in a 2-3 loss.

Both of Powell’s singles players picked up wins in straight sets, with Pimentel going 6-4, 6-4 over Kayla Sankovich and Asher winning 6-3, 6-2 over Alli Hays.

But none of the Panther doubles teams could come away with a win, tilting the match in Gillette’s favor.

The boys didn’t fare well against their Camel foes, with straight-set losses in all but one match.

Though Jesse Brown took it to three sets at No. 2 singles against Garrett Seamans, he ended up with his second loss of the season, and week, 6-2, 4-6, 5-7.

Coach Asay has said the tough regular season competition is key to preparing for the postseason and those final two opponents certainly fit the mold. They could well have the Panthers prepped for the North Regional Tournament this Friday and Saturday in Cody.

Powell tennis comes up short

Aaron Jacobsen goes airborne to get everything into this forehand shot against Cody in the No. 2 doubles match on Thursday.

TRIBUNE PHOTOS BY DAN HOEHNE

Posted Tuesday, September 6, 2016 2:42 pm

By Dan Hoehne

Boys win two out of five matches against Cody Broncs Thursday

After getting their feet wet in matches against Green River, Rawlins and Rock Springs the weekend of Aug. 26-27, the Panthers of the tennis courts stepped into deeper waters on Thursday against a talented and experienced Cody squad.

And yet the step up in the level of competition saw the Powell High School players rise to the challenge.

The Panther boys picked up two wins in their five matches, both coming in singles play.

At No. 1 singles, Powell’s Rhett Pimentel had to battle back from a 3-6 opening-set loss to Cody’s Zach Ross, and he did that in a big way.

Pimentel turned the corner in the second set for a convincing 6-2 win and he kept things going in the third and deciding set with a 6-3 score.

Freshman Jesse Brown won in straight sets at No. 2 singles over Joe Luedde, surviving a 7-5 first set before taking control and taking the second 6-2.

The Panthers weren’t able to pick up any wins in their doubles matches, but certainly raised their level of play.

James Sheets and Aaron Jacobsen stayed with Gaston Osterland and Bailey Lasko in the first set at No. 1 doubles, falling 3-6, and were able to pick up a couple of wins in the second before taking the 6-2 loss.

In the No. 2 doubles match, it looked like Wade Musso and Nathaniel Whitham might have been overmatched after taking a 0-6 loss in the first set to Stan Ogden and Evan Wambeke.

But the Powell duo came together in the second set, winning three games and pushing the Cody pair in the 3-6 loss.

At No. 3 doubles, Panther freshmen Dylan Preator and Nate Brown went up against the Broncs Bailey Ennist and Mark Bullerdick. They were able to grab a few wins in a 2-6, 1-6 loss.

“It’s my first year playing tennis, and they were really good,” Nate Brown said. “Cody was a lot better than the teams we faced last week, so it was good that we could get some wins.”

On the girls side of Thursday’s match, Cody was able to make it a 5-0 sweep, but the Lady Panthers made it more competitive than the overall score might indicate. Each match saw Powell win at least three games in at least one set.

In the No. 1 singles match between Panther Hattie Pimentel and Filly Tessa Blough, Blough earned a 6-3, 6-3 win.

Lauren Asher took her first loss of the season at No. 2 singles, but gave Cody’s Teagan Thompson all she could handle in the first set, forcing extra games in a 5-7 loss.

Thompson then held Asher off a bit better in a 6-3, second-set win.

Jen Bonander and Kaylee Meyer fell at No. 1 doubles, 3-6 and 2-6, to Lucille Sax and Dorothy Shippen while Shayla Shoopman and Sloane Asay rebounded from a 1-6 loss in the first set at No. 3 doubles to pick up three wins against Jessica Morales and Kaylee Arnold in a 3-6 second set loss.

Then there were the Sanders girls, cousins Nicole and Sierra, keeping things extremely close in the first No. 2 doubles set.

Cody’s Simona Wambeke and Zoe Pearson were just able to eke out a 7-6 win, and while the second set wasn’t quite that close, the Sanders girls didn’t make it easy in the 6-4 win for the Fillies.

“Cody has a very strong tradition with tennis and all of their players stay competitive by playing in tournaments over the summer,” Powell head coach Joe Asay said. “We have a few that played in the summer and those are the ones that were more competitive. It’s definitely a higher level of competition than our first few matches.”

That’s a level of competition they will have to get used to and play up to as the season progresses. Weekend matches against Jackson Hole and Riverton were on the immediate docket.

With the Labor Day holiday causing an early press day for this edition of the Powell Tribune, results from the Friday and Saturday matches will be in Thursday’s issue.