Conference: 6A/7A South
Interim coach: Dwain Fishburn, first year as head coach, 11 years as assistant coach at the school
Assistant coach: David Torres
2012-13 record: 27-3, 14-0 in conference
Returning starters: Only Josh Bowling, a 6-5 senior forward, returns, having been a starter last year, although there are five seniors on the team. “Josh is one of the better players in the state,” Coach Fishburn said. “He was all-state and all- conference. He is a strong player, and college coaches are coming to look at him and the team in practice.”
Best inside players: A No. 3 guard, Blake Bowlin, a 6-5 senior, is the team’s best outside shooter, yet the coach said Bowlin also has the ability to be effective inside and out, so the coach can be found working inside with Bowlin.
Best outside players: Senior Luke Vincent, 6-0, is considered a good shooting guard by his coach. Vincent is very good outside, Fishburn said. He will join Bowlin on the perimeter. The two players will be joined during the season by play from the Panthers’ two quarterbacks, Cason Maertens, a 6-0 point guard, and Tarek Beaugard, a 5-10 guard, playing the No. 2 position. In addition, sophomore guard Clay Anderson, 5-11, will also have minutes on the perimeter.
How will you match/exceed/fall short of your success from last year? “This is a completely different team,” Fishburn said. “Last year, six seniors were seasoned veterans, and they had a very strong record, but this is a whole new group that is step-ping up and will be finding their own identity.”
Team strengths: “There is more quickness, and there will be better outside shooting,” the coach said. “We can charge the ball inside and kick it out to the perimeter and then knock it down with a good shot.”
Team weaknesses: Coach Fishburn said the critical weakness of the team is depth. He said some of the seniors have not had a lot of playing time and that some of the younger players will be getting some time on the court. “We will be playing two sophomores pretty consistently,” the coach said. “They need to be good and get better as the season continues.”
Toughest opponent: Jonesboro will be tough, the coach said. “We had three losses last year, and two of them were to Jonesboro,” Fishburn said. “We play them on Dec. 20 in Jonesboro. That will be a defining game.”
Games to watch: “This is the most brutal pre-conference schedule since I’ve been here,” Fishburn said. “The conference is also seeing a lot of parity among the teams. There are no easy games.”
In a nutshell: “We have a very thin margin of error,” Fishburn said. “The players have got to get the plays down until they are almost robotic.” He said the lack of depth will be the biggest challenge. He said rebounding will likely have a major impact on the team’s season. Stopping that second shot of the opponent is crucial.