Year Two brings a new energy — and a new sense of purpose — for the Pleasant Valley girls basketball program under head coach Angelica Zimmerman.

After guiding a young roster through a winless campaign in her first season, Zimmerman returns nearly her entire team with a renewed focus on growth, stability, and culture. For her, the foundation laid last winter is the key to everything the Bears hope to build this season.

“Year One was a building year for me and for the team,” Zimmerman said. “We took that time to build the foundation — for them to understand my expectations, the standards, and to build that team culture. Now the question is: How do we build off that?”

Pleasant Valley features a roster comprised of mainly sophomores and juniors looking to take strides forward this season, and offset the loss of Alexia Polazzo, the team’s leading scorer with 108 points. Second-leading scorer – sophomore Amaya Fuentes (87 points) – returns as a key scoring option, while juniors Ella Rothrock, Lily Hower, and Rylan Knapp, along with sophomores Kylie Fuentes, Payton Shillady, and Keegan Merklin, all gained heavy varsity minutes last season and form a young but experienced rotation. Sophomores Victoria Cappelletti and Alexis Krasniqi, along with senior Sam Derohn also figure to be in the mix for playing time.

Zimmerman said the offseason was crucial for a team that needed time, reps, and familiarity.

“We played more together. We had offseason workouts, a summer league, and were able to slow things down and work through everything step by step,” she said. “That time to get comfortable with each other was huge.”

But Pleasant Valley’s progress isn’t limited to X’s and O’s. If there is one defining characteristic of this group, Zimmerman said, it’s their resilience.

“Our record was what it was last year, but they never came to practice with a sad face,” she said. “They came working harder each and every day. They wanted to improve — and that motivation is something they’ve carried into this year. Their work ethic is unbelievable.”

Zimmerman believes that the team’s chemistry — built on and off the court — has become central to its identity.

“It’s more than basketball,” she said. “We do things outside of the sport, and everyone means a lot to each other. We’re playing for each other, and it just means more.”

With nearly the entire roster returning — Pleasant Valley graduated only two seniors — lineup flexibility is one of the team’s strengths. The Bears feature a unified JV/varsity structure that has allowed players to fill multiple roles and learn every position on the floor.

“As long as they know where everyone is supposed to be on the court, they’ll be better players for it,” Zimmerman said. “Our girls have really embraced understanding each other’s roles, and that makes them adaptable and versatile.”

Zimmerman isn’t attaching numbers or projected win totals to the season, but the expectations inside the locker room are clear.

“We’re looking for that first win,” she said. “We didn’t get it last year, but we’re hungry for it now. Once we get that one, we want to build off of it — a second, a third, a fourth. That’s the expectation: win some games and keep building.”

And once that breakthrough comes, Zimmerman believes the momentum will follow.

“I hope it becomes a domino effect,” she said. “Once they get that first one, then they can just play — and the confidence will grow from there.”

With experience gained, chemistry strengthened, and motivation higher than ever, Pleasant Valley enters the new season determined to transform lessons learned into meaningful steps forward.