Panther Valley will look to adapt to a bunch of new changes this season.

There will be numerous players in the rotation with minimal varsity experience that will be expected to play a significant role for the Panthers.It's a work in progress," said Panther Valley interim head coach Keith Gogal of his rotation. "One of the biggest things this year is going to be the experience factor. We have guys that are into positions they're not used to being in. We have other guys stepping in that they'll probably play more within the first two games than they did last season."The Panthers graduated a handful of seniors in Nate Miller, Sam Stanko, and Matt Hudicka, whose leadership duties will be missed."We have older guys that are quiet, Gogal said. "We want them to step up and be vocal leaders on the floor. We are making positive steps every practice, it's a great group of kids. We're getting kids out of their comfort zones a little bit. There's a lot of new roles and adjustments. Up to this point, they're getting along and practices are going well."Aside from personnel changes, the Panthers will be joining a division with Schuylkill League rivals such as Marian and Mahanoy Area."We went from Division 1 the last few years to Division 3 this year," Gogal explained. "We're playing schools that are our size. It's still the Schuylkill League and it's very competitive, but you have to expect a rough environment no matter who you play."Despite all of the shuffling, some familiarity will be returning to the program.Anthony Michalik will be returning for his senior season. He led the Panthers with 40 three-pointers last year. He'll likely be a key part of the rotation, along with sophomore Rene Figueroa and junior Tristan Blasko, who both respectively led Panther Valley in scoring a season ago. Other than those three players, no other returnee averaged more than two points a game last year."The biggest thing we preach is to do your job and pay attention to detail," noted Gogal. "If you do your job, we will hopefully keep moving forward and we'll be competitive. The chemistry is great to this point. They practice and play hard. They seem to enjoy being around each other and the work ethic is good and so is the camaraderie."What never changes with the Panther Valley program is defense, conditioning, and intensity, which will again be three major points of emphasis leading into the season."The first good 40 minutes of practice every day is defense, defense, defense" Gogal said. "We have 14 guys for two teams. We have guys that we need to run for 40 minutes, so they have to be in shape."