Last year’s three-win season is already a distant memory for the Lehighton boys basketball team.

“This is going to be a bounce-back year,” head coach Trevor Miller said. “Last year is behind us. That’s obviously not where we want this program to be.

“This year’s seniors were part of the program their freshman and sophomore years when we won 14 and 16 games. We want to start building back to that kind of success.”

Miller is confident a deeper, more experienced, more athletic team will mean a much better Lehighton team.

“I don’t have any doubts that you’re going to see an improved brand of basketball,” Miller said. “Everyone on the roster has the ability to contribute on a given night.

“Depending on matchups, we probably have 9 or 10 kids that could start and a number of others that could play. I think our balance and depth is definitely one of our biggest strengths.”

With four returning starters, the Indians are also more experienced than they were a year ago.

Seniors Addison Howland and Stephen Heery, junior Ben Schatz and sophomore Zach Hunsicker are all back after spending time in the starting lineup last season.

“They give us a nice nucleus to build around,” said Miller. “Addison and Zach are probably going to need to step up and lead us offensively, especially early in the season.

“Hopefully, as the year goes on, we will find some scoring from other players. But if we do have one concern, it’s finding consistent scoring. Addison and Zach are going to need some help if we’re going to reach our goals.”

Among the players who could start and should definitely see playing time are Carter Strauss, Joel Acosta, Zach Crum, Devon Haydt, Alex Schwab and Alex Potts. Others who Miller said could see varsity playing time are Evan Beers, Anthony Roman, Josh Smith, Nader Beatty, Richard Yturrino and Ethan Lutz.

“The team is excited about the season,” said Miller. “They are a determined, hard-working, tight-knit group, and I think a lot of the credit for that goes to our seniors. We have a great group of senior leaders.”

Miller said the athleticism of his roster gives him a lot of versatility in deciding who is on the floor and what type of defense the Indians will play.

“I think you’ll see us do a little bit of everything defensively,” he said. “Depending on who we’re playing and who we have on the court, we could be playing a lot of man-to-man or a lot of zone.

“The thing I’ve really liked so far is how we have looked in our press, and also the way we get up and down the court offensively. We want to try and take advantage of our speed and athleticism, and playing a fullcourt, end-to-end style might be a way to do that.”

Miller said the Indians have set goals of being competitive in Division 1 of the Schuylkill League, and qualifying for the District 11 playoffs. But, he prefers not to stress long-term goals when talking to his players.

“The kids know what we want to accomplish this season,” Miller said. “But we aren’t constantly talking to them about winning a certain number of games. Instead, we are preaching to them about getting better every single day they step on the court.

“If we can do that, it will get us to our long-term goals.”