Winter Preview: Park Hill South Girls Basketball

The youth movement Park Hill South has been going through the last couple years is one they hope pays off this year as the Lady Panthers return seven letter winners from a team that went 17-10 and finished third in conference last year. Excited for the opportunity to improve, the Panthers come into the season with a renewed sense of confidence and chemistry they hope to take to the next level.

“This is a chance to better our record from last year. From day one, they came in excited about the opportunity they have,” Coach Jenny Orlowski said. “Their goals are very realistic and number one on that list for everybody is districts.”

Among Park Hill South’s returning starters are First Team All-Conference selections sophomore forward Madeline Homoly and junior guard Samantha Roy. Homoly led the team in scoring with 10 points and six rebounds per game last season while Roy served as the team’s point guard and indispensible floor leader. Seniors Courtney Claassen (5 ppg, 2 rpg) and Jessica Lee (9 ppg, 4.5 rpg) will play valuable roles as will junior Morgan Keesee (5.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and sophomore guards Mackenzie Stout (6.8 ppg) and Anna Courtney (4.4 ppg).

Using their improved scoring abilities to create opportunities down low and around the three-point arc, the Panthers also hope to step it up defensively in the full court using their athletic lineup. With so many different weapons returning, the Panthers are faced with a good problem to have early in the season, which will be the amount of capable and deserving players eligible to start.

“My biggest dilemma is I can start any of our seven returning players on a given night and not see a letdown. We’re about ten players deep on the bench right now.”

Capitalizing on mistakes from last year, Orlowski hopes to instill a more composed playing style that can endure tough situations and limit turnovers; especially those teams commonly find themselves later in the season.

“We’re working on poise and confidence. I think there were a lot of games down the stretch (last year) that we lost because we were immature and decision making wasn’t great. So we’re working on when to slow it down compared to running like crazy,” Orlowski said.

The Panthers will face a formidable conference with defending champ Truman and Lee’s Summit West presenting tough matchups, but by picking up where they left off with their lineup last year, Park Hill South feels they can play with anyone.

“If we can be cohesive and play together as one, we should be a tough challenger in any game we play this year,” Orlowski said.