It was a solid season for the Panther Valley girls’ basketball program last season.

The Panthers finished 14-10, and gave eventual District 11 2A champion Minersville everything it could handle in the quarterfinal round, losing by just seven points.

The Panthers will look to continue to build off their success from a season ago to try and qualify for the postseason for a third consecutive season. The last time the PV girls’ basketball program qualified for the district playoffs in three consecutive seasons was from 1998-2001 under current Panthers’ head coach Rob Kovac in his first stint with Panther Valley.

Trying to help accomplish that feat will be the Panthers’ projected starting five. Lucy Kocha, Caroline Breslin, Natalie Vermillion, Morgan Orsulak and Brenna McAndrew all return from last season’s squad. Junior forward Orsulak returns after finishing second on the team in scoring. Orsulak ended the season averaging 13.2 points per game, while adding an impressive nine rebounds per game. Orsulak was great in the Panthers bout with Minersville in the district playoffs last season, scoring 17 points.

“We can’t wait to see what Morgan is able to do this season. We’re really excited about her future,” said Kovac. “Last season, she mostly lived in the post for us, but this season we’re going to move her around a lot more. She’s a great athlete. We will move her inside, but also out on the wing as well. She’s going to surprise some people with her improved ability to take people off the dribble and attack the basket.”

Breslin and Vermillion will occupy two of the guard spots, and are expected to be the Panthers main three-point threats from the outside. Vermillion led the team with 37 three-pointers from a season ago, while Breslin was able to connect from deep 11 times.

“Natalie Vermillion is one of the best shooters in the area. She can flat out shoot the ball,” said Kovac. “She has really shot the ball well for us in our scrimmages. We’re going to ask her to put the ball on the floor more this year, and we think she is up to that challenge. We expect Caroline Breslin to be a top scoring option for us. She’s a good shooter as well, and she has a nice collection of moves off the dribble that can help her get to the rim.”

Sophomore Lucy Kocha will take over the starting point guard spot for the Panthers, and senior Brenna McAndrew will be called upon to do a little bit of everything on both sides of the floor.

“We’re giving Lucy Kocha the keys to the car. We’re asking her to run the show, and we believe in her,” said Kovac. “We’re not just asking her to just strictly play the point either, we believe she can be a playmaker, and she can score some points for us as well. Brenna McAndrew is the kind of player that every coach wants. She’s the ultimate team player. She defends, she rebounds, she’s good at getting put backs. She does all the things that don’t always necessarily show up in the box score, and she’s also a great leader for us.”

Ajeta Gjoca, Morgan O’Brien, Callie Kosciolek and Danika Blazosky are all expected to compete for varsity playing time as well.

“A huge key for us will be developing our bench,” said Kovac. “We have girls that were successful at the junior varsity level last season in those reserve spots. We’re going to need that group to adapt quickly to the speed of the varsity game. We need a few of those girls to come in and create a spark and give us energy.

“Overall, this is a good group, and I think we can become a solid, competitive basketball team. The month of December might be a learning month for us, but as we get into January, I think we will be playing some pretty good basketball.”