Closing the gap, getting better and improving every day.

That has been the message from veteran head coach Rob Kovac to his players coming into his second season at the helm of Panther Valley.

Kovac is in his second stint at PV, where he coached over 20 years ago and helped deliver the program’s only district title.

Most recently, he served as the head coach of the Jim Thorpe girls team from 2007 to 2020.

Late last season, the Panthers were playing competitive basketball, coming through with a nice win against Williams Valley by 22 points, which helped end the 2021-22 campaign on a positive note.

Their leading scorers from last season, Maddison Maynard (14.41 points per game) and Sera Robin (13.65 ppg, 53 three-pointers) return, which has Kovac believing that PV will definitely improve on its three wins from a season ago.

“Last year, the message was to just simply try and get better every day,” said Kovac. “That’s still our goal, but we believe we’re in a much better place than we were last season at this time. I think we have really closed the gap, and I think we can drastically improve our win total if we’re able to stay healthy.

“Last season, we really didn’t get any type of consistency going until later in the season when we were able to practice consistently. COVID hit us hard during the middle of the season, and it unfortunately stifled the maturation process.”

Joining Maynard and Robin will be Kaidence Krapf, Mikayla Yuricheck, Natalie Vermillion and Morgan Orsulak.

Brenna McAndrew and Caroline Breslin will also be competing for playing time as well.

“I really like the mix of players in our rotation,” said Kovac. “Maynard is very talented, and a relentless slasher that is going to score a lot of points for us, and when we get Robin back from being out right now, she is one of the better three-point shooters you will see in the league. Orsulak and Vermillion have been really great additions for us. Orsulak has great length, and is athletic and can get to the rim and finish with both hands. Vermillion, who was injured last season, can flat out shoot the ball and is turning into a really good basketball player.

“Then you add in Yuricheck and Krapf, and you get two players who are glue kids for us and are leaders, and they have both significantly improved their games.”

The Panthers will open the season with Northern Lehigh, Schuylkill Haven and Notre Dame East Stroudsburg, which are all winnable games early that could give PV the confident start it needs to try and claim a District 11 2A playoff berth.

“We are not where we want to be right now,” said Kovac. “But like I said, we’re in a much better spot, and we’re going to get better.

“I think we can surprise some people. We’re going to have some roller-coaster moments throughout the season, no doubt, but it’s how we respond to those moments that is going to define our season. I think we’re going to be OK, and we’re going to be much improved.”