After being in the rotation for two years, Powell High School senior Nathan Preator stepped into a full-time starting role this season and earned an All-State honor for his efforts.

“Going into the season that was one of my goals so it was good to be able to accomplish that,” Preator said. “It was a good season to go out on.”

Since joining the lineup his sophomore season, Preator made an impact off the bench before starting late last season for the Panthers.

This season he more than doubled his offensive production in terms of points, going from 7.3 points per game a year ago, all the way to 16.9 points per game this year, fourth in the 3A West and fifth overall in the state.

He did that on strong efficiencies from the field, including 55% on 2-pointers and 36% from beyond the arc.

Preator added 3.6 assists to be sixth best in the west, saying his role as a facilitator was one of his strengths he was happiest with this season.

“I was happy to be able to take a bigger role as a facilitator,” Preator said. “This group of guys has played together for awhile, and I think we’ve all gotten to know each other’s strengths which has made it easier for me to be able to create offense.”

While he was the Panther’s leading scorer and assister, Preator continually brought energy to the team through his defense as he was second on the team at 2.9 steals per game, good for a tie for second in the 3A West and a tie for third in the state overall.

“It’s super important to bring energy every game because that’s what everyone feeds off of,” Preator said. “My goal each game was to try and get stops on defense and pick everyone up, make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Throughout the years Preator has been a part of strong Panther teams, playing a role off the bench in the Panther’s undefeated state championship season in 2024 and advancing to the state tournament last year.

Despite those accomplishments, Preator felt he had one of his better memories happen this year.

“I think one of my favorite memories was winning the state championship my sophomore year and going undefeated, but our senior night against Cody this year was a great memory too,” Preator said.

He said that moving on from high school he is going to miss playing with his friends more than anything, but he will take away plenty of memories and lessons from the Panther basketball program after four years.

“As I go on in life I’m going to be able to take away the hardworking mindset and leadership skills that I learned from playing basketball,” Preator said. “A sport like basketball has so many other aspects to the game than just winning, and our coaches were able to build lifelong relationships with us.”

ALL-CONFERENCE HONOR

In addition to Preator the Panthers had one 3A West All-Conference honoree, as fellow senior Taeson Schultz got the honor following a similar jump in production to Preator.

Moving into a starting role this season Schultz increased his scoring from 6.3 points per game his junior year to 12.7 points per game this season, pouring in 64 3-pointers on 32% 3-point shooting, giving him a total of 104 in two years of varsity action.

“I was super happy to see him get that award, it was super deserving,” Preator said. “Taeson has put in tons and tons of work in the gym, and I think if we had a little better season he would’ve also been All-State.”

Schultz also led the Panthers with 5.6 rebounds per game, and added 3.2 assists as well as 1.6 steals a game.