Experience counts.

A number of Butler County area teams bring back a lot of it and plan on using it to produce a memorable 2023-24 season.

Here is a breakdown of each county team:

A-C Valley

Coach: Jess Quinn

A former boys and girls coach at Clarion Area, Quinn sees a lot of potential in his first year with the Falcons, who hope to bounce back after last year's 8-14 record.

Senior center Jay Clover, who averaged 17.3 points and 9.3 rebounds to earn All-Conference honors a year ago, is the nucleus.

"He brings a lot of experience, is competitive but a calming influence," said Quinn. "The first day after I got the job (in October), Jay came up to me and introduced himself."

But the team's high hopes are supported by a strong supporting cast. Running the point will be senior Brody Dittman, who will be spelled by Joey Rapp, a very talented freshman. Dittman paced last year's team with 35 treys.

Guards Henry Stevanus and Noah Will are good off the dribble and Easton Wingard excels at driving to the basket.

"We should have the ability to run the floor or play a half-court game," said Quinn.

An X-factor for the Falcons is Zasheen Levins, a 6-foot-4 junior forward who transferred in from Boys Latin Charter, a Class 5A high school in Philadelphia. Levins averaged 4.9 points and 4.4 rebounds last year.

Butler

Coach: Matt Clement

The Golden Tornado are coming off a 14-8 season that ended with a first-round WPIAL playoff loss, but three starters — Madden Clement, Ryan Porch and Colin Casteel — have graduated from that team.

While two standout players return in senior guard-forward Braylon Littlejohn (21.2 ppg, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists) and sophomore guard Donovan Carney (14 ppg), Clement will be looking to piece a lineup together from there.

“I’m glad we don’t have any section games until after Christmas,” the coach said. “It’s going to take some time to figure this out.”

More than likely, the other three starters will come from seniors Ayden Davis and Coleton Welter, junior Tayt Lucas and sophomore Stainton Forbes. Welter is 6-foot-3 and Forbes is 6-2.

“Stainton has improved a lot since last year and will likely work his way into the startiong lineup,” Clement said. “We’re looking to get some board work from Coleton and he can score inside.

“We have a number of guys who can help us, but Braylon and Donovan are the definite leaders. We’ve got some athletic guys who can shoot the ball.”

A pair of 6-4 sophomores, Andrew Gettinger and Kyle Casteel, can help inside and senior guard-forward Andrew Lucas figures to get some minutes. Butler’s bench runs deep with Mavrik Clement, Jordan Epps, Ayden Andrews, Graydon Dunn and Jace Gratzmiller figuring into the mix.

Freeport

Coach: Richard Macura

Talk about starting over.

Not only do the Ywellowjackets have a new head coach, they graduated all five starters and 11 seniors from last year’s 13-10 team.

Macura was an assistant coach at Highlands the past two years. A 1992 Freeport graduate, he was an assistant coach at his alma mater for 20 years before that.

“I jumped right into coaching after graduating high school,” Macura said.

Only two lettermen return from last season — senior guards Brady Sullivan and Gavin Glista. Both figure to start. Other starters will come from a combination of senior forwards Brian Kijowski and Brady Paga, junior guards Dempsey Gowan and C.J. Walker, and junior forward Sean Sellinger.

“We’ll be doing a lot of mixing and matching, depending on who we’re playing,” Macura said. “Our strength is in our guard play. We’ve got some fast guys who can shoot the 3’s and we’re going to play to that strength by running the floor.”

The coach said the team’s goal is to get to the playoffs despite playing in a difficult section.

“Our section is loaded,” he said. “Hampton and Highlands have plenty of starters back, Knoch will be tough with their big kid and another year’s experience ... We need to play together to succeed this year.”

Karns City

Coach: Zach Kepple

The Gremlins finished 22-6 a year ago, losing to Clarion-Limestone in the District 9 semifinals. Three of KC’s losses came at the hands of C-L.

Micah Rupp and Braden Grossman have graduated, but plenty of talent returns as Karns City looks ti surpass last year’s postseason showing.

“Our first goal is to win our conference, the KSAC,” Kepple said. “Then we want to win District 9 and make a deep state playoff run. The talent is here to do that.”

While senior guard Taite Beighley (14 ppg) returns to anchor the offense, he’ll have plenty of company. Guard-forward Jacob Callihan and point guard Hobie Bartoe both averaged just under 10 points per game last season. Shane Peters, a 6-foot-6 post player, averaged eight points per game as a part-time starter.

KC also welcomes the return of 6-0 senior forward Luke Cramer. A starter as a freshman and sophomore, Cramer missed all of last season with an injury.

“Luke is rounding back into form,” Kepple said. “He’ll be a difference maker.”

Colson Ritzert, a senior guard-forward who can fill a number of roles, will also see action for the Gremlins.

“Our strength is our experience,” Kepple said. “Taite is a three-year starter. Cramer started for two years. Other starters are back. Our veteran players are pushing our younger players in practice.

“Teams will try to play zone against us. It’s up to us to shoot well and force them out of that.”

Knoch

Coach: Alan Bauman

The Knight won the right games last season, reaching the WPIAL playoffs ddspite an 8-15 overall record with an extremely young team. They were 5-5 in section play.

Now they hope to benefit from that experience.

James Snyder is the only starter graduated from a year ago. Teegan Finucan, a sophomore guard, averaged 17 points per game as a freshman last season. Jackson Bauman, a sophomore point guard, averaged 10 points and five assists last year.

Other returning starters are junior forward Kaden Spencer and 7-foot-0 sophomore center Zane Pacek.

“Big kids develop later and Zane is reaching that point now,” Bauman said. “His moves when he posts up, back to the basket, have drastically improved. We’re expecting good things from him.”

The fifth starter will likely ber 6-7 sophjomore forward Derek Lang. Senior guard Zarian Finucan and sophomore forward Zach Szebalskie also figure to see a lot of time.

One of Knoch’s strengths is the way its team is growing together. Bauman said one of the goals this season is to attain a home playoff game.

“I feel like that’s our next step as we continue to improve,” he said. “We’re in a strong section and we’re gonna have to compete hard to get there.”

Mars

Coach: Rob Carmody

The Planets are used to graduating 1,000-point scorers, so the loss of Tasso Sfanos, while notable, is not something Carmody sees as insurmountable.

“Losing Tasso leaves a huge void, but since the end of the (2017-18) season, we’ve lost six 1,000 point scorers,” said Carmody.

Leaders on this year’s team include seniors Remi Black and Ryan Ceh, 6-foot-7 and 6-6, respectively.

Last year, Black averaged 9.8 points and 8.7 boards per game. Ceh put up 13.8 points, 8.4 points and drained treys.

“Having those two guys anchor us is great,” Carmody said. “They both have size, but while Remi is a forward, Ryan is more of an outside player. They both have to pick their production level up.”

Also back is starting guard Austin Campbell. Center Ben Detisch, guards Elias Grenier, Drew Navetta, Austen Wroblewski and Brady Jordan and forward Ian Zukowski all look to see significant playing time.

Mars is used to playing deep into March, reaching the second round of the state playoffs last year.

“We are a battle-tested program,” said Carmody. “No matter who graduates, we find a way to compete with the top teams.”

North Catholic

Coach: Jim Rocco

Max Hurray served in a supporting role last year, but played like a leader. He scored over 20 points per game for a team that reached the WPIAL Class 4A title game and the state quarterfinals.

“He will be considered as one of the best players in North history and is receiving Division I and II interest,” said Rocco of Hurray. “Max is a smart kid and has earned his notoriety.”

Seniors Nick Larson and Jason Siket return to start at guard. Rocco said a number of players will be counted on to handle the ball.

A bevy of players look to contribute. Guards Jude Rottmann, Jason Fredericks, Wills Kontul, Eli Stofko and Owen Maddalon each are planning to leave their mark.

“All the guys are good at sharing the ball,” said Rocco. “We plan on this being a typical North team, one that plays extremely hard.”

Moniteau

Coach: Mike Jewart

The Warriors made it to the District 9 Class 3A title game last year — and they have their entire starting five returning.

“To get those five guys back and have another year together … that’s going to pay huge dividends, I think,” Jewart said.

Sophomore Andrew Zepeda joins seniors David Dessicino, Ayden Jackson, David Martino, and Chason Delarosa-Rugg back on the floor. The latter was injured for most of the second half of the last go-round.

“Getting him back and his ability to shoot is going to be huge for us also,” Jewart said of Delarosa-Rugg.

Seniors Landon Kelly and Cade Barger, junior Connor Ealy, and sophomores Dawson Cook and Brendin Sankey are part of what Jewart calls his deepest bench in years.

Senior Logan Campbell, a member of the Butler Eagle’s Sweet 16 football team, is trying his hand on the hardwood for the first time since sixth grade.

“We expect big things,” Jewart said. “There are expectations on these guys and they’ve got to learn how to live with it. That’s going to be the big thing. I like where we’re at in practice right now.”

Seneca Valley

Coach: Kevin Trost

Of the 13 players on SV’s varsity roster, nine are sophomores, but Trost sees potential in the few upperclassmen.

The team graduated Andrew Roy, Luke Lawson and Connor Oros, a trio that averaged 35 points per game a year ago.

Junior guard Tyler Pepin returns after averaging 8.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 2022-23.

The senior class includes 6-foot-3 center Jake Manson and guards Kai West and Esheza Okponobi. Pepin and sophomore Andrew Omasits are vying for the starting point guard spot.

“We do have some size with our sophomore class and the pace we play at will be dictated by our personnel and our opponent’s personnel,” said Trost. “We don’t plan to have a dominant scorer. It will be by committee.

“But our identity is always to defend and rebound. When you have a young team, you have to defend well.”

Trost is hoping offseason work will pay off once the season starts.

“Most of the guys got about 40 games in during the month of June,” he said. “They built a lot of chemistry with that.”

Slippery Rock

Coach: A.J. Motta

Having graduated seven guys from a squad that gave top-seed Warren a scare in the playoffs last year — five of which were regulars in the rotation — some would figure the Rockets are going through a sort of passage.

“As far as transitions go, we definitely lost a lot of athleticism,” Motta said. “We lost a lot of creativity on-ball. But, we replace them with — in my opinion — really good players.”

Senior guard Levi Prementine is the team’s lone returning starter.

“We bring our bench guys from last year — our sophomores that we had playing — they’re going to step into some starting roles for us here,” Motta said.

Junior forward Josh Book is one of them.

“He was really coming on strong,” Motta said of Book’s performance late last go-round. “He played more of a support role with all those seniors around him, so it will be interesting to see him figure out his scoring.”

Classmate Max Kovacik projects as a dependable point guard, while Anderson Franco is a versatile guard. Junior Braden King will round out the starting lineup.

“They’re super unselfish,” Motta said. “Where we struggled at times in the past has been we make a really good drive and then the next pass is tough. This group, they’re sharing the ball. They’re working really well together.”

Summit Academy

Coach: William Sharpe

Unlike the school’s football team — which underwent complete turnover this fall — Summit Academy returns one basketball player from last year in starter Christian Clayton.

Sharpe will count on him and guard Amir Robertson, who also played on the gridiron for the Knights, as captains of a largely inexperienced bunch.

“All of them are very new to basketball,” Sharpe said. “They’ve never played organized ball, just pick-up and stuff like that.”

The crew does have its strengths, though they’re still developing hardwood fundamentals.

“We’re athletic,” Sharpe said. “A couple of them played football, so fast and athletic.”

He expects his Knights to improve as they get their feet wet.

“I feel like we’re going to get better as the season goes on,” Sharpe said. “We’re just trying to get these kids back on the right track — that’s our main goal. Teach them the game and let them have fun.”

Union

Coach: Eric Mortimer

With a handful of guys that will be on the floor that are all over 6-foot-0, height and quickness will be important in the Knights building on their appearance in the state tournament last season.

“We run the ball, we like to speed it up, and we like to play man,” Mortimer said.

Seniors Trey Fleming and Dawson Camper are back as starters from a team that reached the second round of the PIAA Class 1A bracket last winter.

“I don’t think too much is going to change from last year with what we do,” Mortimer said. “Because we continue to do the same things over and over and over — in practice, anyway. Things go pretty well.”

Seniors Hayden Smith and Carter Burns and juniors Owen Bish and Gage Jordan add to the height that should help on the boards.

“There’s several people that probably could fill in,” Mortimer said.

The coach didn’t label any high expectations for the new campaign.

“I think we’re going to fit in good with who we’re playing,” he said. “Everybody’s so good this year. I think it’s going to be a tough year on account of that.”