The Panthers will look to have the same success in 2010 without tier All-Conference player in Dione Milsap.Michael Tardy’s return to the court at Yazoo County in 2009 was fueled by getting the program back to where he left it.

Now a year later and a little wiser, it’s time to step it up a notch.

“We’ve got to expound on what we were able to do last year,” he said. “The job this year is to get the team over the top.”

Coming off one of the worst seasons in 2008, Tardy led the Panthers to a 22-7 record and a trip to the postseason.

The loss of several key seniors, including All-Conference honoree Dione Milsap, won’t be too much of a problem to overcome Tardy believes, because the system in place makes it easy to pick up right where he left off.

“It’s like a farm league in baseball. When you lose some you just go to the farm and bring up some more,” he explains. “We expect them to come in and never miss a beat.”

That mentality starts in the fall, roughly six weeks before the very first tipoff November 6 against in the Yazoo County Classic.