Before the 2015 season, just two players had varsity experience on the Tamaqua boys basketball team.

While last year was a learning experience for an young roster, almost all of those Raiders are back for the 2016 season with varsity time under their belts."Last year, we were pretty young," said Tamaqua head coach Jim Barron. "We had a lot of kids get their first varsity experience. Thad Zuber and (Russell) Blaker were the only two that came in last season that had any experience. Last year was a real growing year for us."Last season was also the first without 1,000-point scorers Bo Rottet and Brett Kosciolek, which gave Blaker one more season to shine as the team's second-leading scorer. The turnover also gave Zuber a chance to become a focal point of the Raiders' attack, as he led the team with 15.09 points per game."Zuber does everything for us," Barron noted. "We have 12 guys dressing varsity, and all of them are going to see time. We're pretty deep and we have a couple of new faces. Thad will be our leader, but everyone else in the lineup brings something different to the table for us."Zeke Wassell was the team's third-leading scorer last year. He's a natural small forward, but was forced to play the 4 last season. He'll be able to move back to his more familiar position this season, as the team acquired some serious height under the rim.Marian transfer Josh Inama stands about 6-4 and figures to be a defensive anchor under the basket, and can also provide a nice offensive touch. Last year, as a Colt, he averaged 8.14 points per game and notched a fair amount of double-doubles with his strong rebounding."Eddie Titus is playing this year, and he's about 6-2, and a real big body for us," Barron mentioned. "We have a lot of athletes, and we feel like we can pick the tempo up, especially with being deep. We'll throw some press in there and try to speed the game up."While the Raiders have a wealth of experience returning, there are some inexperienced players who could also help out."Lucas Gregoire is a freshman already listed as 6-3," explained the Raiders' coach. "If he gets more physical, he could see some varsity time. Another freshman, Brayden Knoblauch, is probably one of the best shooters on the team. We have some really good sophomores too. Those kids are going to have opportunities this season. We've come a long way in two weeks. Last year, we were a little unsure of what we had. This year, we're really looking forward to getting into the season."After a total transition last season, Tamaqua has a lot of talent coming together from everywhere. Barron hopes to bring back that fiery competitiveness to the program this year."They had a three-year run making district playoffs when Caszy (Kosciolek) was here," he said. "Coming into last year, we knew we lost Bo (Rottet) and Brett (Kosciolek). We didn't really have that varsity experience and we knew it would kind of be a rebuilding year. But now, I think we can be at the point where we get back to district playoffs and we get back to contending. I'm not sure at this point of the season if we're ready to compete to win the Schuylkill League. But if we keep getting better and better, we're going to be right there."