WEATHERLY – There is nothing like the feel of a winner.

The Weatherly’s boys’ basketball team had that feeling last winter when it earned a playoff berth after a 1-6 start.

“We had that early struggle, then we came around,” said third-year Wreckers’ coach Corey Gerhart. “I don’t know if it was a confidence issue the way we got the season going. I knew going in that our team was going to be pretty good, but then we didn’t do a very good job and had to overcome the (losing) mentality.”

This season figures to be a challenge mainly because the Wreckers were wiped by graduation.

However, there is promise with a band of youngsters that whipped up a frenzy in their junior high days.

“It’s not what we did back when they were in junior high,” Gerhart said. “There are a lot of expectations, but are they going to step up and make plays. There’s a big jump from (junior high) to the varsity. Yeah, we have Scotty (Zoscin), who started for us last year as a freshman, and he’s going to be a good one, but we have a long way to go before we can be a top-flight team.”

Gerhart knows it will be important to get off to a strong start. Of course, Division III in the Schuylkill Boys’ Basketball League has three seasoned teams in Nativity, Mahanoy and Marian.

“I think our early games are going to tell us a lot about our team,” Gerhart offered. “We open with MMI, and it will be a test for us. But then we have a few early games where we can get ourselves accustomed to playing with each other.

“Our goal is to play .500 and make the playoffs,” said the Weatherly leader. “We made the playoffs last year for the first time since 2012-2013, and now we want to do it again. If we can get that type of feeling, it’s only going to breed winning. And with such a young team, we’ve got to learn how to win.”

The Wreckers won just two games in the 2016-17 season. Last year’s turnaround featured a senior-laden team with Steph Yurchak, Gary Buck, Gabe and Julian Miller and Zach Moon, a pistol of a shooter and floor general.

Yet, the piece that filled in the final puzzle to last year’s success was the 6-1 Zoscin, who registered 12.1 points per game and made 31 treys.

A few players who saw varsity action last year were junior guard Elijah Derr and classmate Mason Gerhart. Guard Antonio Colecio played in half the games last winter as a freshman.

“Losing the players we lost is going to hurt us early,” said Corey Gerhart. “You can’t replace experience, but we will get tested early and in a few games that I think we’re capable of winning.”

Chad Obert, a 6-1 returning letter winner, and another potential rising sophomore star Trevor Lowman (6-0) will also help the team this year. Seniors Nick Berger (5-11) and Ryan Fairchild (5-11) are also in the mix. The coach could also call on 5-11 junior transfer Dalton Tompkins or Ethan Broskoskie, the tallest player on the roster at 6-4. Meanwhile, a horde of freshmen show promise in Frank Willis (6-0), Ricky Ray (6-0), Aiden Boerner (5-11), Brady Walters (5-10), Jordan Mitchell (5-7) and Tim Maguschak (5-7).

“Lowman can play multiple positions for us,” said Corey Gerhart. “He can shoot the trey or play forward with his back to the basket, and that’s going to be a big help. Obert is a solid player that we like a lot. If Ethan (Broskoskie) can give us minutes, that’s going to be huge. But we’ll wait and see if the transition (to varsity) is going to affect us. I think it’s going to take a lot of time and patience.

“We want to run. With our quick kids, we will use a steady stream of man defense and throw in some zone.”

If the Wreckers can take high-percentage shots and play steady defense, they could attain the goal of a postseason berth.

“We’re not ripe just yet,” said Gerhart. “I’m hoping to get through (December) with some positive play and then go from there and shoot for the (.500) mark and make the playoffs for a second straight season.