Page 7 - TR Basketball Preview Oct 2016

THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE BASKETBALL PREVIEW | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2016
7SS
CABOT PANTHERS
Panthers coach stresses hard work, improvement
BY MARK BUFFALO
STAFF WRITER
The Panthers shocked many around the
state as they beat the Malik Monk-led Bentonville Tigers to win the 2016 Class 7A State Tournament.
“If there is one thing, ... people can’t say it can’t be done,” said head coach Jerry Bridges, who is entering his 13th season at Cabot. “We feel like we have a good nucleus of our team back from last year. But it’s like I’m trying to stress to them, ‘They aren’t going to hand this to you.’ It’s always harder the second time around. We’ll have that bull’s-eye, but I feel like we’re one of the teams that can compete for it.
“We know we’ve got our work cut out for us. Our main task is to continue to get better as a team.”
Cabot lost two key seniors off last year’s squad: Hunter Southerland and Garrett Rowe.
This year’s squad will be led by a core of players, including senior point guard Bobby Joe Duncan. “He drives the car,” Bridges said. “He’s done
a great job the past two years. When he’s got his mind right, he makes my job a lot easier.”
Senior Matt Stanley returns at center for the Panthers.
“He was our leading scorer last year, and he’s gotten better since last year,” Bridges said. “I’m excited about Matt and his future. I think he’s about to have a great year.”
Senior Logan Gilbertson and Jarrod Barnes were the sixth and seventh men for the Panthers a year ago.
“I consider them starters,” Bridges said. “Logan is 6-6, and he and Matt together are a heck of a front court. It’s as good as I’ve had in my coaching career.”
Vance and Christian Weir; and senior Parker Childress are getting better.
“Those are the four guys who need to continue to get better, along with junior Landon Vaught,” Bridges said. “I feel like you need eight to 10 players at this level. We’ve got to get our second five better.”
This season, Cabot will compete in the 7A- Central Conference. In previous years, Cabot was in a blended conference with 7A and 6A schools.
“You’ve got Bryant with everybody back,” Bridges said. “You’ve got Fort Smith Northside with almost everyone back. North Little Rock is much improved. Little Rock Central — people don’t talk about them, but they are good. They are a scary team. Conway is much better. There are six teams in our conference that I feel will challenge for the conference title.”
Bridges said he thought the 7A/6A-East prepared them for the state tournament.
“Jonesboro is good,” he said. “I know we lost that last game to them. We blew an 11-point lead at half and went down by 11 but came back and had the ball at the end to try and win it. That night told me we had a team that could win [the state title].”
One thing that Bridges likes about playing only 7A schools for conference is that his team plays 14 games that count toward making the state tournament instead of six.
“That’s ridiculous on determining who goes to state,” he said. “I do like that part of it better. But there isn’t an easy night out there, kinda like when we were in the 7A/6A-East.”
MARK BUFFALO/THREE RIVERS EDITION
Cabot’s Matt Stanley dunks the ball during practice. The Panthers are the defending state champions.
Bridges said Barnes is “the best athlete in the state.”
Bridges said junior Jalen Brown, the son of assistant coach Nathan Brown, is a good shooter. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in his shoot- ing ability,” Bridges said. “He’ll step in front of a
freight train at any time.
“As a coach, I feel good about those five.” Bridges said juniors Noah Allgood, Jared