A strong mix of youth and experience will take to the court for the Powell Panther girls’ basketball team, hoping to continue a run of state tournament appearances and make a stronger push this season.

Leading the way for the Panthers is an All-State guard in junior Emery Hernandez, who made a significant jump stepping into the starting lineup as a sophomore averaging 13.4 points per game to lead the team and also leading in assists at 3.2 and steals at 2.6.

Another award winner from a year ago is senior guard Coy Erickson, who was the second leading scorer at 10 points a game and earned 3A West All-Conference honors.

“Going into this year for those two, it’s just coming out with more confidence than they did the year before, just building on that,” coach Chelsea Kistler said. “They have the experience. They’re still going to make mistakes and whatnot, but they have a lot of experience under their belt, so I want to continue to build on that … I really need their leadership when things get tough, because it’s not always going to be easy.”

Down low the Panthers return players who have seen the court in the past, but don’t necessarily have the most experience in seniors Hali Hancock and Shelby Zickefoose along with junior Leah Graham.

“Shelby and Hali have a lot of experience at the JV level, and did well last year. They don’t have quite as much experience with me, they dressed for varsity and got some minutes last year. For them I’m not looking for them to do anything spectacular … They need to just do what they do and know where they’re supposed to be. Be big, get rebounds, muscle it back up,” Kistler said. “Leah got a lot more experience last year. She’s just a bulldog. That’s a kid you’ve got to keep track of, she’s gonna crash the boards hard every single time.”

One of the younger players who will see significant time this season is sophomore Kindyle Floy, who saw some minutes towards the end of last season in the varsity lineup in six games.

“She’s just so athletic and versatile. She can take you off the dribble, she can shoot the three … She’s gonna have some nerves because she’s young, we’ll have growing pains and that’s OK,” Kistler said. “She did great for us this summer playing in tournaments. A lot of great positives and a fun kid to watch, fun kid to coach and I’m excited to see what she’s going to do for us this year. A lot of teams don’t know much about her, because she didn’t get a lot of time last year. She’s young, but I think she’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

In addition to Floy, three more sophomores likely in consideration this year for minutes are Veronica Kovach, Sam Edgell and Autumn Kidd.

“They’re young and they’ve still got a lot of growing to do. Nobody’s perfect on this team by any means. Everybody’s got work to do,” Kistler said. “They’re super young, and they’re raw, but I am seeing some really good things from them … I think those three are going to continue to grow and be stronger as the season goes on, just playing with those returning, experienced kids. It’ll be exciting to see what they bring to the table.”

Overall Kistler feels the Panthers bring a good deal of athleticism, as they will likely focus on guard play more this season and use their speed to their advantage as much as they can.

“We’re pretty quick, we are very athletic,” Kistler said. “We hope to run teams and get up on them. We’re not super deep in our bench, but we have to play smart. We can’t get in foul trouble … We’re going to play good defense, and we’re hopefully going to get up into people and cause some turnovers, transition and look for that aspect of the game.”

In what is expected to be another difficult 3A West the Panthers will be seeking a fourth straight state tournament appearance.

“On our side you’ve got to show up and play. You can’t overlook anybody,” Kistler said.

Powell starts the season on the road, not hosting a game until after the winter break in January.

That road trip starts in Lander this weekend, starting with games against Newcastle, Pinedale and host Lander on Friday and Saturday. The Panthers may get their first taste of the shot clock, as teams have been encouraged to use the shot clock in all nonconference games this season.

“It’s a test. It’s not going to make or break our season that first weekend,” Kistler said. “It’s a gauge to see where you’re at. It gives you a chance to play against somebody other than yourselves. I think we’re gonna get a little taste of the shot clock there.”