Category: Photos

Villains Victorious

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First Big Musical after COVID a Success

From December 2-4, drama club students presented “Descendants”, their fall musical based on a Disney film of the same name. In total, 420 tickets were sold over the three nights, making it one of the most attended production in the club’s history.

Drama director Maria Wishart was appreciated of all of the parents, staff and the kids who participated.

“I think the play went wonderfully. We had a wide range of age ranges and experience levels both on the stage and backstage. Everyone contributed something to make it a fabulous show,” said Wishart.

The play showcased the talents of eleven seniors, as it is their final year being with their drama family.

Senior Taylor Becht just joined drama this year and landed a major role in the Descendants production. She performed as the main villain, Maleficent.

“From this musical I gained confidence and new-found friendships that will last a life time. I wouldn’t take it back for anything,” said Becht.

The production featured a talented cast of about 50 students from both the high school and elementary schools.

On the night of the last show, Wishart was also honored by drama club students both past and present, as this production marks her 20th year as the drama club director and 50th show at PHS.

School board member Craig Starr and former member Roger Moon presented Wishart with an award.

“Maria, here you are being honored between a Moon and a Starr,” joked Moon.

Seniors Haley Cox, Michael Hannon, Angie Ceja and Amanda Bowles stand center stage to perform their first song, “Rotten To The Core”. The four seniors were the four main characters of the production. Cox portrayed Jay, Hannon
portrayed Carlos, Ceja played the
role of Evie, and Bowles portrayed Mal.
Senior Angie Ceja, as Evie, flirts with Senior Elijah MacDonald, as Prince Ben. Senior Jozalyn Kempf scowls as MacDonald’s girlfriend in the production, Audrey.
Senior Kylee Charles, Junior AJ Lopez, Freshman Lainee Cox, and Seventh grader Piper Frank welcome the four main characters to their new school, Auradon.
Senior Elijah MacDonald kneels before Senior Amanda Bowles while a crowd gathers around them. Mal (Bowles) and Prince Ben (MacDonald) were love interests in the play
Wishart (center) poses with Moon (left) and Starr (right).
PHS Choir members sing as members of the chorus.
Seventh grader Piper Frank holds the fairy godmother’s wand while yelling at the cast. She portrayed Jane, daughter of the fairy god mother. “I gained a lot of self confidence and I made a lot of friends.” said Frank.
Senior Taylor Becht poses on stage while singing her final song of the night. It was Becht’s first year in drama and her first performance.

Story and Photos by Ashleigh Garcia

Rams Win Big Against Generals, Face Vikings Today

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On Tuesday December 14 the Lady Rams defeated the Clarksville Generals 68-14. Coach Donavan Crews felt really good about the game.

“This was a game we thought we could jump on them early and take control of the game with our defensive pressure. The girls did a nice job of coming in focused and ready to go,” said Crews. “It’s easy to come into a game like this overconfident and not focused but that was not the case tonight. Our press really got us going in the first quarter. We caused a lot of turnovers, and we were able to score on the back end.  Our half-court defense was pretty good all night.  We had a game plan in place and the girls executed nicely.” 

The three leading scorers were junior Jackie Crews with 17 points, senior Kacey McBride with 12 points, and senior Gracie Walls with 11 points.

“I thought our guards really caused them a lot of trouble all night long. Our bigs ran the floor well in our fast breaks and that’s nice to see.  We also had a pretty good shooting night from the floor and from the free throw line.  From the free throw line we were 83% which is nice to see.  

With the team so far ahead, crews felt fortunate that his team was in a position to allow younger players a chance to get in the game. 

“We were able to play a lot of kids and almost everyone scored. It was good to get some of those younger kids able in the game to get a little varsity time. That will help down the road.  Now we need to move on and get ready for Barr-Reeve and hopefully add to our winning streak going into the Toby Yoho tournament,” said Crews.

This afternoon the Lady Rams will take on Barr-Reeve Vikings this afternoon at 1 p.m. Paoli is 6-5 on the season and the Vikings are 4-6.

Story by Jeremiah Hutcheson

Junior Jackie Crews dribbles the ball up the court as she sets up the offense.
Senior Kacey McBride takes the ball up to court before setting up the next play.
Junior Amelia Hess takes the ball out of bounds.
Senior Kinsey McBride defends Clarksville point guard from scoring.

Photos by TyLynn Taylor

Rams Hope to Continue Winning Streak At Austin Tonight

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The Boys Varsity Basketball team played at home on Friday, December 10 against West Washington. Paoli won 53 to 41. This was the Rams first conference game and showed the fans and their opponents what they were capable of.

“Any time you win something multiple years in a row, the target on your back gets bigger and bigger. Paoli has now won or shared the Conference title in Basketball for four years in a row so all of the other teams are gunning for us. It’s always a fear of mine that you lose your hunger and other teams want to win more than you do. I reminded our team of that before we tipped off.  They went out and proved that we wanted it more than West Washington did. And that is how you must play if you want to stay on top,” said Varsity Head Coach Dusty Cole.

Junior Isaac Cornett McBride shoots the ball for the Rams.
Photo by Faith Gammon.

John Moon had a great game and led the way with 17 points scored. Fletcher Cole was limited this week with nine points and Trey Rominger was well guarded with only 13 points. Isaac Cornett-McBride had six points and Carson Little had eight.

Senior Carson Little goes up strong for a layup.
Photo by Faith Gammon.

“Our seniors were terrific and we were able to be physical and flex our muscles a little bit against West Washington. We knew that our front court would have a big advantage in this game with size, and definitely strength,” said Cole. 

The Rams knew the Senators would try numerous defensive strategies in the game. 

Senior John Moon looks over the court to make a play.
Photo by faith Gammon.

“We also knew they were going to try and limit Fletcher and Trey. West Washington even played a Diamond-and-1 defense against Fletcher for part of the game. But we really felt like that actually played right into our hands as that allowed Isaac, John, and Carson to play 1-on-1 inside against the smaller, weaker West Washington defenders. Those guys dominated the paint and the glass. John has been really consistent for us this year and led the way with 17 points. You know he is playing with a lot of confidence when he is stepping out and hitting three pointers and he hit two last weekend against West Washington.  John is a senior and a three-year starter, so we expect him to play well and he has so far,” said Cole.  

Freshman Fletcher Cole drives to the rim for a layup.
Photo by Faith Gammon.

The boys are 3-0 on the season and are continuing to improve. Tonight they play the Austin Eagles at Austin, with the JV game starting at 6 p.m. The Varsity Eagles are 1-4 in the season.

Story by Jeremiah Hutcheson

Spanish Students Learn the Cumbia

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On November 18 and 19, students in Senora Shellenberger’s 1st period class learned to dance to a popular rhythm that originated in Colombia. Cumbia is a rhythm created by the incorporation of African, European and Indigenous cultures.

Juniors and seniors in Senora Shellenberger’s Spanish 3 class learned how to dance to the cumbia rhythm.
Senora Shellenberger’s class claps along during a class dancing lesson.

Photos by Ashleigh Garcia