Rebounding will be key to a steady season for Putnam County

Jackson McDonald-led Panthers will be smaller but quicker this winter

The prep basketball season held solely in the late winter of 2021 was a physical and emotional roller-coaster both on and off the court, but a particularly up-and-down one for the Putnam County Panthers.

However, this year coach Harold Fay feels his club will not only have more ups than downs, but get to those ups and stay there a little more consistently if they rebound the way he believes they can.

“I have good kids who play hard, and if we can rebound the ball and take care of it, we’ll be fine and a lot of fun to watch.”

—  Putnam County coach Harold Fay

Lost to graduation from the squad that went 9-8 overall and 8-6 in the Tri-County Conference are a few multi-year contributors to the Panthers’ varsity program, including News Tribune All-Area Third Team pick Luke Pederson and classmates Matthew Liebhart and Stephen Mecagni.

But the fact there were so few seniors on last season’s roster gave way to playing time for the younger players, and they took full advantage of the opportunity.

Leading those returnees is Jackson McDonald, who as a sophomore was a huge threat around the Tri-County Conference during the shortened two-month campaign. The now 6-foot-4 McDonald averaged a team-best 14.5 points per contest along with 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 assists in his first varsity season, earning him a unanimous spot on the Tri-County First Team and a First Team nod for the NewsTribune All-Area squad.

“He’s a little taller than me right now, but that may be because I’m shrinking,” Fay joked. “With the shooters we had outside, it gave him the opportunity to do the things he wanted inside. He’s got his work cut out for him now, because they know who he is and he won’t be sneaking up on anybody. They’ll be gunning for him, and if you want to play that part, you have to be ready for it.”

In addition to the inside/outside/slasher McDonald, also back is junior guard Andrew Pyszka, a solid shooter and defender on the perimeter.

“That group with Jackson and Andrew, if we could have kept them together, they would have had a pretty good JV season,” Fay said, “but it gave us the chance to have some other kids develop, so we’re looking forward to seeing what they can do this season.”

Joining Pyszka in the backcourt will be the club’s only two seniors — 6-0 Drake Smith and 5-10 Chad Olson, both expected to contribute significantly, along with 5-10 junior Austin Mattingly.

PC will also have some size in the paint with junior posts in 6-3 Wyatt Grimshaw, a hard rebounder and defender and a solid shooter out to the elbow. Juniors Blake Billups, Spencer Voss and Lucas Wiesbrock are also in the mix for substantial court time.

How well the Panthers rebound will go a long way toward how well they compete in what should be a more balanced Tri-County, with solid teams like defending champ Roanoke-Benson, Marquette, Seneca and Midland all in the title hunt, plus league newcomer Dwight.

“Something that I stress to the kids every year is that everything will depend on how well we rebound on the defensive end,” Fay said. “Last year we gave up too many second-chance points, but I feel that if we can control those, we can contend in the Tri-County and maybe in regionals. We’re still working on it. We play good defense for a while, then stop when a shot goes up. We have to finish off those plays.

“We may have lost a little bit of size from last year with Liebhart at 6-6 gone, but I think we’re a little quicker at every position, and the parts are very interchangeable, so we can mix things up and hopefully create problems for other people. … I have good kids who play hard, and if we can rebound the ball and take care of it, we’ll be fine and a lot of fun to watch.

“It’ll be exciting.”