Preview: Park Hill South girls basketball looking to build from ground up

This year’s Park Hill South Lady Panther basketball team will be building from the bottom-up after last year’s 3-19 season. Head Coach Jenny Orlowski comes into her third season ready to mix things up and start anew with what will be a 2010-2011 Panther squad made up of players ranging in experience. That means out with the old and in with the new.

“We started from scratch after last season because when you hit bottom you know you can’t keep doing the same things that got you there, you have to change,” Orlowski said of this season’s fresh start.

Park Hill South will combine the experience of returning starters Stephanie Griffith, Kinsy Kuhn, and Haley Shelton who bring back a combined average of 15 points a game. They’ll lead some talented sophomore guards in the likes of Courtney Claasen and Tori Kerr. Also making consistent contributions will be sophomores Jessica Lee and Brittany Perry along with seniors Mackenzie Williams and Shannon Keith, the Panthers’ most improved player last year.

“We’re going to play a lot of kids. I told them there’s going to be a lot of cross over between JV and Varsity. A lot of the younger kids will get time at both,” Orlowski said.

Part of gaining back their competitive edge starts on the practice floor where the Panthers believe they’re further ahead than they were at this time last year and it starts with having the confidence to attack the other team.

“You’ll find they’re going to be a lot more aggressive and cutting to the basket more. They really see each other on the floor,” Orlowski said. “Overall, we’re a lot quicker and I think we’ll be an exciting team to watch.”

An area to keep your eye on throughout the season will be the Panthers’ maturity and composure. Their ability to mesh their senior leadership with their younger players to build a cohesive team could yield positive results.

“I think we have a maturity factor to overcome. Even though we have five seniors, we’ll have a lot of younger kids on the floor at times. We tend to forget things when our adrenaline starts pumping,” Orlowski said. “If we combine our new outlook and the hard work that must be done, we should be much improved over last season and will probably surprise some teams.”

The Panthers will look to compete will strong conference opponents William Chrisman, Raytown, and Belton.