A summer that started with a flurry has seen the Powell Panther boys’ basketball team in the gym, looking to replace five outgoing seniors from a team that advanced to the state tournament once again.

The lone camp the Panthers attended ended up being at the WYO Sports Ranch in Casper in early June, with coach Mike Heny noting they were able to play a number of games against teams they haven’t seen before.

“We got to see a bunch of different teams that we don’t normally see. We played Natrona County, Glenrock and we played three Colorado teams,” Heny said. “It was really good. We had all five seniors that went and what we kind of think is going to be a lot of our main rotation at the varsity level. We took a couple freshmen, so they got to kind of see what it was like to play. Those camps are really important not only for development of playing together but for team bonding.”

He said the Panthers were able to enjoy their free time, creating a positive environment and spending time with each other to help grow the connections between the players.

Overall, Heny said the team was able to play 12 games total against quality teams between the varsity and junior varsity levels, and believes the Panthers will be heading back to the WYO Sports Ranch for the foreseeable future.

“It’s an incredible complex. We’ll probably go every year to that because that will just keep growing and growing,” Heny said. “It was the first year, so there probably weren’t as many teams as they would have hoped. But our summer development is absolutely critical if we’re going to be competitive, and we have to try to play as many games as we can.”

Turnover has been a constant for the Panthers recently, having graduated six seniors from a state championship team two years ago, five this past season and Heny is anticipating another five seniors this upcoming season.

“This has been a unique stretch for me as a coach,” Heny said. 

With that many seniors consistently going through the program, Heny noted it is as important as ever that the Panthers build the program and add more depth at all levels to maintain a strong level of play.

“Building that depth and making sure kids are still working to that goal to be a varsity player. You can’t win a lot of games without depth,” Heny said. “We’re going to be a little undersized, so we’re going to have to figure out how to play together. When two years in a row you’ve got five brand new starters, it’s going to take some time to develop those habits that we need that will work for next year’s team.”

He said they are continuing to work on those skills throughout the summer, hosting open gyms to help the Panthers continue their streak of state tournament appearances this next year and keep growing the program.