Coming off conference co-championship, PHS looks for more

There were elements of magic to the Powell High School boys’ basketball season in 2010-11. After all, the Panthers followed up a rebuilding year by finishing as the 3A West co-champions after posting an 11-3 conference mark and a 13-11 overall record last year.

Included in that figure were a number of wins the Panthers generated in the waning minutes of play.

But that magic abandoned the team when it came time for the conference tournament. After suffering a last-second loss to Cody in a game the Panthers had led for almost the entire second half, Powell was unceremoniously denied a place at the state tournament when Lyman pulled an upset on the final day of 3A West play.

Those losses have left head coach Mike Heny a little hungry as the program enters the new year.

“I definitely think we can be one of those top two or three teams again this year,” said Heny. “I expect we’ll be right there.”

The 3A West conference has undergone a bit of a shakeup this season thanks to the latest round of school reclassification. Worland, the team the Panthers shared the 3A West title with last season, is now part of the 3A East, taking an 18-12 record with it. Sliding into their place in the league will be Star Valley, a program that posted a 12-17 mark in Class 4A last season.

As for other teams in the region, Heny notes Lander, 14-14 a year ago, returns virtually their full team. Ditto for Lyman, 15-13 a year ago.

“I really think there’s a lot of parity again this year,” Heny said of the conference. “It is going to come down to a case of protecting your home court and winning as many as you can when you go on the road.”

“Those four are really our staple guys,” said Heny. “They provide us with a pretty good core to work from.”

They also provide the Panthers with a pair of returning all-conference selections. Partridge, who averaged 17 points per contest in league play last year, is tabbed by Heny to be “one of the better players in our conference this season.” McArthur also averaged in double digits last year.

Once again, the Panthers will suffer from a lack of height on the floor. At 6-foot-4, Partridge could be the tallest Panther on the floor this year.

“We don’t have that pure center sort of player,” said Heny. “We lost Jake Beuster from last year’s team, but even he wasn’t really a true post sort of player like we’ll see from someone like Lander, who can put a 6-8 kid down there.”

“Last year, we had Zane (Bushnell) and he was able to put a lot of pressure on the ball,” Heny said. “We’ll definitely be missing that, but we’re going to try and turn the pressure up even more and extend the defense.”

To do that, the Panthers are looking to a variety of halfcourt and fullcourt trapping systems.

“We don’t have height, so we’ll be looking to try and generate as many buckets as we can with our quickness,” Heny said.

The Panthers open the season this weekend with three games in Cody. The team opens the year against Riverton. Following that, the squad faces 3A East foes Rawlins and Wheatland.

“Wheatland will be a good test,” said Heny. “They played for the state title last year and they have one of the best kids in the state returning for them.”

After that, the team will plunge into 3A West play with a pair of home contests as Star Valley and Jackson both pay visits to town before the holiday break.

“That will be two big games for us,” said Heny. “We’re excited for the year to be starting. The kids are excited to have the chance to play against someone other than each other.”