Panther standout to play ball in Billings

Powell High School senior Chase Partridge has signed a letter of intent to continue his basketball career as a member of the Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears this fall. Panther head coach Mike Heny announced the signing recently.

“Chase worked extremely hard during his high school career to become the player he is today,” said Heny. “He spent a lot of time in the offseason working on the little things to make himself better.”

Partridge finshed his Panther basketball career second on the all-time scoring chart with 1,113 career points, just 10 shy of the school record. He scored 556 points as a senior to set a school single-season record, shattering the previous best of 446 points. His 222 field goals as a senior was similarly a school record.

He scored in double figures in every game this past season, making him one of just four Panther players to achieve that feat for an entire season. He ends his PHS career averaging 16.4 points per game as well as with 482 career rebounds, 115 steals and 96 blocked shots.

“It has been a dream of mine to play college basketball since I was a little kid,” said Partridge. “Rocky is close to home, so it makes it easy for my family to see me. The campus is very welcoming and upbeat, so Rocky had all of the things I was hoping to find in a school.”

The Bears finished with a 13-17 record this past season. Rocky Mountain was the 2009 NAIA national champion in men’s basketball.

“I understand that playing college is a huge leap from the high school level, but I am extremely excited with the opportunity,” said Partridge.