Winter Preview: Park Hill South Boys Basketball

New head basketball coach Rick Zych starts his first year at Park Hill South this season with plenty of success to grab his players’ attention. In 16 years as the head coach at Bishop Miege, the Stags played in five state championship games, winning two state titles. Now on the Missouri side, Zych will take the reins of a Panther basketball program that went 17-9 last year with a young group of talented players. The core of that team returns this season with heightened expectations from their new coach as well as themselves.

“They (the players) won a lot of games last year. They’re expecting success this year, and they know they have to work hard to get it,” Zych said. “We had a lot of sophomores that competed at a high level so we have some experience.”

Senior point guard Anthony Woods is expected to be one of the area’s most dynamic players this season.

“He’s worked real hard in the offseason and has a real good feel for the game. He’s probably one of the better defensive point guards, is real physical and moves his feet,” Zych said of Woods. “Offensively, there aren’t a lot of things he can’t do. He can take us about as far as he wants to go.”

Also joining Woods for their senior seasons will be Mikel Blake and Spenser Braymer who says will be looked upon early for leadership.

“They’ve been around and they are a big part of this program,” Zych said. “You’re only a senior once so there will be some weight on their shoulders.”

The Panthers will have considerable size with juniors Hudson Welty, Payton Meeks, Robert Lane and sophomore Alan Hitt, all of which are taller than 6’4”. Not only do they present a threat near the basket, but they’re versatile, making them dangerous on the perimeter as well.

“We are expecting big things from them. We’ve got some size and should utilize that,” Zych said. “If we stay out of foul trouble it will allow those guys to step out every once in awhile.”

Zych says he’ll bring a similar playing style to what he used at Bishop Miege, which was a fast-paced, up and down approach, but he also understands that each team is different.

“Every team is different; you can’t really compare it to Miege. This is the Park Hill South team of 2012-13 and we’re excited about it,” Zych said. “We’re going to try to get up and down a bit. Hopefully we’ll have the personnel to do it, but to make it work on offense you really just have to make shots and rebound, which we have to guys to do.”

Park Hill South hosts Lee’s Summit (Dec. 14) then travels to Belton (Dec. 18) before competing in the William Jewell Tournament between Christmas and New Year’s.