Corey Gerhart had a lot to be happy about last season.

Gerhart was able to guide the Weatherly boys’ basketball team to its second double-digit win total in the last three years, and also helped the program secure a place in the postseason.

But Gerhart wanted more for the Wreckers.

With an experienced core and ever-improving group of underclassmen back in the fold, this could be the breakthrough Gerhart and Weatherly have been waiting for.

“Last year, it was a good year, but I thought we could have done better,” said Gerhart. We had some good teams on the ropes, we had some really good battles. The (District 11) playoffs were definitely a disappointment; I didn’t think we were going to lose in the first round, but anything can happen.

“I’m happy and confident with where we are this year.”

The Wreckers return their top two scorers in Scotty Zoscin (17.64 points per game) and Antonio Colecio (11.13) from a squad that went 10-13 a year ago.

Gone are Elijah Derr (6.57) and Mason Gerhart (5.96), but the supporting cast around Zoscin and Colecio remains strong.

“We should be solid. It was great that we had a lot of underclassmen on the floor who got a good year of experience,” said Gerhart. “We have some height with Ethan Broskoskie (3.45), and he worked really hard over the summer. We have Jake Solonoski (2.00) who has been a big eye opener at practice; he’s going to be a powerful body underneath and hopefully pull some boards.

“Junior Frankie Willis (1.71) has grown since last year, and he’s going to be seeing some action at guard for me. Trevor Lowman (6.14) is still back and he’ll be shooting the 3; we have some shooting depth. Hopefully we’re going to be pretty solid.”

And that depth extends to both ends of the floor, which should help create a rotation of about eight players.

“We have so many key players, like Luke Derr, who will be a solid defender for us,” Gerhart said. “Ricky Ray has really grown since last year, when he was a dominant JV player. Now he’s going to see some varsity time. I’m going to have depth again, so I’ll be able to substitute.”

Many of these players are also coming off a successful fall which saw the cross-country team capture a District 11 title, go undefeated during the regular season, and capture a Schuylkill League title at the all-league meet. The soccer team also qualified for the district playoffs.

Gerhart knows there are still areas of concern, and plenty of things to work on heading into the season.

“And they’re maturing as they keep getting older,” he said. “The big thing for us is that we control the turnovers. That’s key. A couple of times we had a lot of turnovers last year, and that hurt us. And I’ve really been stressing at practice that when you take an open shot, you have to knock it down. We need a decent shooting percentage from the floor to win games.”

But he won’t shy away from what works well, and where he feels the team thrives.

“I always like to play up-tempo, I really like to push the ball,” said Gerhart. “Sometimes that comes back to bite you. Last year at Nativity, we were up 15-1, and I wanted to keep pushing and keep pushing, and they just kept creeping back and creeping back. I probably could have changed the strategy a little bit and played a bit more conservatively, but we push the ball, make some baskets in transition and we’re good on that. We’re a quick team.”

Though far from a finished product with an offseason curtailed by coronavirus restrictions, the expectations are high for a program on the brink of a breakout season.

“They work hard,” said Gerhart. “I know they have high hopes of making a little run this year, and hopefully we’ll be able to do some things.”