At times it wasn’t pretty.

The Weatherly girls’ basketball team had some up and down moments last season, and it wasn’t a juggernaut by any stretch.

But at the end of the season, what the Wreckers had accomplished was definitely worth admiring.

Because the season was about more than wins and losses. Weatherly learned that hard work does indeed pay dividends.

The Wreckers went 9-14 and qualified for the District 11 playoffs for the second straight season.

Kevin Kringe feels the toiling during this past offseason, combined with a horde of veterans ready to put the pedal-to-the-medal will help his team zoom down a winning road this season.

“We’re a team that is going to be fun to watch,” said Kringe, now in his third season. “We had our growing pains last season, which caused us to be inconsistent and not stay focused at times.

“I guess you can say we were riding a rollercoaster with young and inexperienced players.”

But the offseason was productive in Kringe’s eyes. He said the players now know how the scheme works. They’ve learned what the coach is expecting.

Leading the way for the Wreckers will once again be Emily Zoscin, who poured in 19.26 points per game a year ago and was named to the All-State team.

But Kringe feels the Wreckers will be able to give Zoscin more support this season.

“Our players won’t need to lean on Emily this year as much as we did last year,” he said. “We had a good summer, we competed against bigger schools and the coaches have seen how we’ve grown with those workouts.”

Kringe said Katelynn Ache, Gillian Hinkle, Tabby Hinkle, Lindsey Hoffman, Megan Peifer, DeAnna Strouse, Grace Miller, Ashley James and Abby Hernandez can all make the opposition pay if it gets too preoccupied trying to stop Zoscin.

Peifer, a junior was the second leading scorer a year ago, averaging 9.7 ppg. Hoffman, also a junior, nailed 6.78 ppg., followed by Tabitha Hinkle (3.5 ppg.) and Gillian Hinkle (1.90 ppg,).

Yes, there is plenty to get hyped up about if you’re a Wrecker fan. It helps to stoke the fires in early December, and frigid January and February. However, realistically, this team could be a season away, so what happens this time around will only provide bonuses somewhere down the road.

“We are still very young (class-wise), but we are committed to winning,” said Kringe. “I’m sure hoping that we can grow from last year. I think we’ll be alright.”

And good, too!