Young and experienced.

Those two words rarely go together, but both aptly describe the Panther Valley boys basketball team this season.

Stephen Hood, Chase Weaver and Drew Kokinda all started as freshmen a year ago and were the top three scorers on a Panthers team that went 5-17.

With a varsity season under their belt, along with the improvement of other returning players, PV is anxious to get the 2021-22 campaign underway.

“It’s definitely a rarity, but (young and experienced) certainly applies to us,” said Panther Valley head coach Pat Crampsie, who is entering his 20th season in charge of his alma mater’s program. “We have all three guys back that started last year as freshmen. All three of them did a tremendous job as freshmen, being thrown into the fire of Division 1 of the Schuylkill League. And that’s not easy.

“At the end of the year, I was real happy with where we were at ... We’re happy with the progress those guys made, so we’re obviously going to be counting on them again to score some points.”

The versatile Hood, who at 6-5 can obviously battle inside the paint but also has ballhandling skills, averaged 16 points per game as a ninth grader. Weaver finished with 9.3 ppg, while Kokinda, the team’s leading three-point shooter with 52 last season, netted 7.7 per contest.

“Stephen can do it all,” said Crampsie of the area’s fourth-leading scorer a year ago. “He can play inside, he can play outside. You’re also going to see him handling the ball more this year than he did in the past.

“Drew has added to his game. He was pretty much a spot-up shooter for us last year, but this year we’re going to count on him more for ballhandling, and he’s more capable of getting to the basket now than he was a year ago. Chase, on the other hand, never had a problem getting to the basket. His shot has improved, he’s really worked on that. We’re really happy with the strides we’ve seen in those guys.”

Crampsie isn’t concerned with his team putting up points, but in order to better the record from last year his squad needs to make advancements at the other end of the floor.

“Last year, defense was an issue,” said Crampsie, whose club allowed an average of 65.7 points per game. “For a young crew, the guys did a great job of putting points on the board. They had some offensive abilities and they were able to exhibit that last year, but we couldn’t stop anyone.

“That’s been a huge focal point for us. In order for us to have a good season, we’re going to have to do a much better job of stopping teams than we did last year. It’s something these kids have bought into, and we’ve seen a lot of improvement in that area over the first couple of weeks.”

Speaking of improvement, the veteran mentor is pleased with the progress of his starting juniors - Michael Pascoe and Austin Hadley.

“Pascoe and Hadley, they’re both football guys, and they have improved tremendously in strength, in their physical conditioning, and their basketball skills,” said Crampsie. “They’re two of our most improved guys by far. They both had great summers and had a nice preseason as well ... We’re definitely going to be more post-oriented and we’re going to play through those guys a lot.”

The two will also be counted on for rebounding, another area that will be crucial in producing wins.

“Rebounding is going to be big for us,” said Crampsie. “There were too many times last year where we were one-and-done on the offensive end. I think this year we’re going to have more of the capability of getting some putbacks and second-chance points. I think our guards rebound well for their size and our big boys in Stephen, Michael and Austin could provide some second-chance points for us.”

Seniors Ben Kindt and Geno Turner will provide valuable depth of Crampsie’s bench, as will Bradley Hood, Cody Orsulak, Hayden Goida, Trey McAndrew and Riley Hoben.

“Those guys are all in the mix to get some time depending on what we need,” said Crampsie. “We feel like we’re a deeper team than we were last year. It’s made practices very competitive and we’re happy overall with the strides these guys have made individually and as a team.”

How much the experience and growth affects the team are still to be seen, but the goals for PV remain the same.

“Regardless of whether we’re young or old, experienced or inexperienced, we feel like the program is at a point where our goal is to get to districts every year,” said Crampsie. “Our goal is to compete in our division and be within striking distance of those top two teams (Pottsville and Blue Mountain) and have a shot to play down the stretch to get into leagues.

“If you get into districts, anything can happen. Our goal is to get there and then try and make a run. That’s where we want to be every year.”