Prospectors play up a level, battle Powell County in loss

DEER LODGE – The Granite Prospectors played a level up Tuesday night, testing their mettle against the Class B Powell County Wardens and fell 59-40.

Granite played the Wardens with a basket through halftime, trailing 24-22. But some unforced errors in the third caused the Prospectors to extend themselves on defense, leading to some easy baskets as Powell County pulled away in the fourth.

“We had to extend our zone press more than I wanted to in the 4th quarter and they got some easy looks,” said GHS Head Coach Dustin Keltner. “I was really proud of the kids tonight. Deer Lodge was ranked as high as #3 in the state in Class B and we hung right with them for most of the game. They run an amazing 1-3-1 defense and we were able to get quality looks on it for the most part.

“This game helped us a ton.”

Kade Cutler scored 10 points in the loss, but it was enough to put him over 1,000 points for his career.

“I've coached 27 years and never had a 1,000 point scorer so it's an unbelievable accomplishment,” added Keltner.

Brian Ward led Granite in scoring with 16.