New season, new faces.

Plenty of area boys basketball teams will be piecing together fresh lineups this winter. Butler, Seneca Valley, Mars, Freeport, Moniteau and Slippery Rock are among them.

Knoch and Karns City are among the more experienced teams coming back.

Here is a look at Butler County area teams this season:

A-C Valley

Coach: Andy Rapp, first year

Last Year: 20-5

The cupboard was certainly not bare when Rapp took the reins of the Falcons over two months ago.

Back from last season's KSAC-South championship team is forward-center Jeff Eaton.

The 6-5 senior averaged just under 11 points per game last year, but Rapp is expecting bigger and better things this season.

“He can play every position, is a strong leader and has the perfect frame,” Rapp said. “He is one talented basketball player.”

Eaton displayed his big-game capability by scoring at least 17 points in four separate contests as a junior.

Junior Ivan Pennington has a strong grip on the starting point guard spot.

“He's going to have a lot of responsibility on his shoulders,” said Rapp. “Our chemistry will be partly dependent on him and he knows that.”

Others looking to make major contributions include, in the front court, seniors Dylan Fox, Austin Morgan, Troy Cottrell, Dan Deloe and sophomore Austin Heeter.

Cottrell (6-3) could also see time at guard.

Butler

Coach: Matt Clement, fifth year

Last Year: 6-15, 2-12 in section

The Golden Tornado are coming off the first losing season in Clement's tenure and graduated their top scorer in Dom Pusateri (Waynesburg). Luke Hartung (Slippery Rock) and Luke Tincha (Grove City) have moved on to college ball as well.

“We have junior experience,” Clement said. “Our two seniors haven't played varsity ball at all.”

One of those seniors — forward Rich Marnic — is one of Butler's captains, joining junior forward Mark Gross and junior guard Nick Patten.

“The players elected Gross and Patten and I selected Marnic,” Clement said. “Rich is what you want a senior to be. He plays hard, scraps, runs the floor.

“He's got the right high school basketball player's attitude. He's proud to be playing for Butler.”

Butler went into its scrimmages with starting positions wide open. Returning guards with experience are Arum and Keenan Krause, along with Andrew Paterno. Justice Lewandowski saw limited varsity minutes at forward a year ago. He and Patten are 6-foot-4 while fellow junior Jake Anderson is 6-5.

Tyler Frederick is a 6-3 freshman with ample potential, “but he's still a freshman,” Clement pointed out.

“I have four point guards on this team in the Keenan boys, Patten and Paterno,” Clement said. “We can handle the basketball and we've got the potential to be a good shooting team.

“Our biggest strength is depth and basketball IQ. We have a lot of guys who have already played a lot of basketball. Our biggest concern is experience.”

Another concern is the section.

“There's no room for error,” Clement said. “The WPIAL's final four came from our section last year, three of the four the previous two years. It's loaded. We have to play defense, rebound, get better as we go.”

Freeport

Coach: Mike Beale, third year

Last Year: 9-11

Despite losing four of five starters from last season, optimism is high in Freeport.

“I think it's a very exciting time to be a player at Freeport,” Beale said. “We have a lot of young kids who have shown a willingness to compete and belong at the varsity level.”

Josh Beale is the only returning starter. The 6-3 sophomore forward averaged a double-double last season as a freshman.

The rest of the lineup is still in flux with plenty of options.

Sophomore point guard Kris Keppel, senior guard Hunter Fennell, sophomore guard Mason Eddinger, sophomore guard/forward Ryan Weigold, senior forward Seth Bowser, senior center Eric Davis, junior guard Marshall McCormick and senior guard Noah Shannon all figure to see significant playing time.

“The Freeport philosophy and system is a constant,” Mike Beale said. “We just have to find the right people to fit the system.”

The Yellowjackets are hoping to be a more up-tempo team this season, one of the last in their bandbox gym.

Freeport will move to a new school — and a much bigger gym — in two years.

Grove City

Coach: Don Fee, 23rd year

Last Year: 5-17

Last season was the worst in Fee's career. There were problems both on and off the court.

Fee's determined to not let it happen again.

Fee nearly didn't return this season after piling up 404 wins in his first 22 seasons with the Eagles.

Fee, though, didn't want to go out on such a sour note.

“The attitudes have been good so far,” Fee said. “They are interested in getting things turned around.”

Fee has some pieces to work with.

Leading scorer Derek Turner is back. The 6-1 senior guard averaged 13.3 points per game last season. Also back is 6-0 junior guard Danny Torok, who scored 10 points per game last year.

The key will be defense and the Eagles' commitment to it, Fee said.

Senior guard Foster Reznor, senior forward Colby Polkabla, junior forward Spencer Marnich and sophomore guard Kaiden Young will see significant minutes.

“If they maximize what they have, if we embrace defense, we can be competitive,” Fee said.

Karns City

Coach: Chris Bellis, fifth year

Last Year: 7-15

The Gremlins return three starters in senior guard Tyler Kepple, junior point guard David Olszak and junior forward Logan Moroney.

Kepple averaged 16 points per game last season and hit 70 3-pointers. He's got approximately 160 treys in his varsity career.

Also battling for starting spots at forward are senior Dan Filges, juniors Brendan Waltman and Christian Turner. Filges missed his junior year with an injury after starting briefly as a sophomore. Turner is out four to six weeks with a high ankle sprain suffered in Saturday's PIAA football playoff game.

Other guards looking for time are seniors Nathan Weckerly and David Markel, and junior Ethan Conto.

“In recent years, we've struggled to rebound and that's hurt us,” Bellis said. “For us to win, we need to bang the boards and be more physical, especially on the defensive side.”

Karns City's goal is clear-cut: Win the District 9 championship.

“You always look to win the championship,” Bellis said. “We lost a lot of close games last year that we should be able to turn around.”

Knoch

Coach: Ron McNabb, second year

Last Year: 12-12, 6-6, lost in first round of WPIAL playoffs

Despite having to learn a new system last season, the Knights reached the playoffs and won a postseason game for the first time since 2006.

“That was a great achievement by the kids,” McNabb said. “Now they're a lot more comfortable with the system and I'm anticipating us being better as a result.”

Knoch returns a productive backcourt in senior guards Austin Miller and David Gallagher. Miller, the point guard, averaged 11.5 points per game while Gallagher was among the county leaders in 3-point field goals.

Chris Kier is another returning senior guard while senior Jordan Hickey also adds experience to the backcourt.

The Knights will have plenty of size in seniors Jim Larrimer (6-foot-4), Connor Shinsky (6-6) and Stephen Oblich (6-4). None of the three played last year.

“We're a little deeper than we were last season,” McNabb said. “We've got a good crop of seniors.”

The underclassmen aren't bad, either. Junior 6-4 forward Matt Zanella started a year ago and 6-2 junior forward Troy Hixon will see plenty of minutes. Aiden Albert, a sophomore guard, also provides depth.

Mars

Coach: Rob Carmody, 16th year

Last Year: 21-5 overall, 12-0 in section

Losing eight seniors from a section-title team often means a rebuilding year for a high school basketball program.

But Carmody and the Planets are prepared to make 2013-14 a season to remember.

“Being part of last year didn't satisfy these kids,” said Carmody. “They have worked extremely hard.”

Leading the way on the floor this season will be senior guard Owen Nearhoof, who averaged nine points per game and drained 35 three-pointers as a junior.

Nearhoof began seeing significant playing time during his freshman season.

“He has a chance of becoming the all-time leading scorer here at Mars,” said Carmody, “but he would trade it in to know that we made the playoffs this season.”

The rest of the starting five, and the top bench players for that matter, have not been decided. Carmody is fine with that.

Players in the mix includes seniors Brett Kloc (forward) and Nick DeCamp, Austin Fetsko, Errict Haas and Ethan Lewis — all guards — as well as sophomore center John Castello and sophomore forward Alex Gruber.

The Planets' sophomore class has 12 players.

“It's deep, talented and aggressive,” said Carmody.

Moniteau

Coach: Jerrod Markle, first year

Last Year: 8-14

Not only is the coach new. Much of the Warriors' roster is new as well.

“Some of these kids are up from junior varsity, some are back from last year, some are totally new to the program,” Markle said. “It may take us a little while to gain familiarity and play as a team.

“But mental toughness is a strength of these kids. They're willing to accept challenges.”

Mark Kimmel, a 6-foot-2 forward, is Moniteau's lone senior. The Warriors do have size in the frontcourt with 6-5 junior Jake Fullerton and 6-4 junior James Bair.

“Size will be a big advantage for us,” Markle said. “We should be able to protect the paint at both ends of the floor.”

Markle has three junior guards to work with in Cody Skiver, Zack Jewart and Tyler Errington.

Of the 17 players in the program, however, 10 are freshmen or sophomores.

“Our intensity will pick up with the youth,” Markle enthused. “These kids are hungry. Our goal is to win the District 9 championship.

“These kids want to win it. They're working at it and it's my job to get them there.”

Seneca Valley

Coach: Victor Giannotta, 10th year

Last Year: 17-9

Defense was the driving force behind the Raiders' march to the WPIAL Class AAAA semifinals a year ago. While some of the faces have changed, the recipe for success has not.

SV surrendered less than 50 points in 12 of its 26 games a season ago, including a combined 75 points in playoff wins over Central Catholic and Upper St. Clair.

Six players graduated from that squad, including four players who stood at least 6-3.

“Though we may be a bit quicker, we are clearly not as tall as we were last year,” said Giannotta. “But we are not going to change our philosophy. The key will be defense and we have to rebound well.”

Starters returning include point guard Matt Darby and guard-forward T.J. Holl. The latter is the team's top returning scorer at 6.1 points per game.

Giannotta is confident that Holl can take on a more prominent role, from both a scoring and leadership standpoint.

“T.J. was the starting quarterback for a Quad A football team that made the playoffs this fall,” said Giannotta. “There's no more pressure for a high school kid than that.”

Forwards Mike Smith and Zach Snyder and guard Dakota Topf are the other projected starters.

Junior guard Chad Izenas figures to be the sixth man.

Slippery Rock

Coach: Phil Bushre, fifth year

Last Year: 2-19

The Rockets will challenge themselves this season.

Success won't be measured in wins and losses.

“Sometimes what you do with a win or loss is most important,” Bushre said.

Bushre loaded the non-region schedule with bigger schools and heavy hitters, including WPIAL quad-A teams Butler and Seneca Valley.

It's all a plan to get Slippery Rock ready for the rigors of a region that is stacked from top to bottom.

“The league is brutal,” Bushre said.

Bushre will turn to a group of hard-nosed players, many of whom had success on the football field this fall.

Slippery Rock didn't have a player average in double digits in scoring last season, but it has a few who could this season.

That starts with junior guard Jake Whitmer, who showed flashes last season. Junior Brady Kadlubek will also start at guard.

Junior center Camren Neal, senior guard Matt Badger, senior forward C.J. Welsh, senior center Aaron Rager and junior guard Mark Cessar will also see significant minutes.

The X-factor may be 6-4 freshman Ryan Dutton, who has only been playing basketball for three years but had an impressive summer.

“He had the best summer for a kid that age I have ever seen,” Bushre said. “He's really raw. He has a lot of learning to do and he's only 14, but he's pretty athletic.”

Summit Academy

Coach: Adam Petrosky, first year

Last Year: 5-16

Intangibles have a way of bypassing the Knights, due mostly to an overhauled roster virtually every season.

This year appears to be different.

“This team, especially our projected starting lineup, has developed a familiarity with each other in a very short period of time,” said Petrosky, who served as an assistant coach with the Knights the past three seasons. “We have a saying, 'In half the time, do twice as much.'”

Summit will open the season at the Pine-Richland Tournament Friday, most likely with a starting lineup of point guard Devin Montgomery, shooting guard Dasonte White and forwards Donte Tyson, Cassan Fields and Micheon Anderson-Meade.

The Knights' sixth man is junior forward Lemuel McFadden, who just earned All-Allegheny Conference honors for Summit's football team as a defensive end.

“We're still trying to get him up to speed, getting his basketball legs under him,” said Petrosky. “He could move into the starting lineup at some point.”

Union

Coach: Jeff Hepler, second season

Last Year: 10-13

Which Union team will show up this season?

The one that started the 2012-13 campaign 2-6? The one that then rolled off eight wins in a row? Or the one that closed the season with seven consecutive setbacks, including a playoff loss to Johnsonburg?

“I'm just hoping to be a little more consistent,” Hepler said.

To do that, he will stress consistency on the defensive side of the court. Defense was an area that was up and down for the Golden Knights' last season.

Hepler will also rely on quickness from a team that is short on height, but the athletes are there.

Four seniors should have a significant role this season in guards Wanya Harris, Dylan Shirey, Trevor Corle and forward Shane Murphy.

Juniors Lane Cicciarelli, Eric Seary and Chet Carmichael and sophomores Cole Morris and Hank Murphy will also see significant minutes.

The tallest player in the group stands 6-1. So, Union will press and run and try to use its speed and quickness to its advantage.

“We'd like to get off to a better start,” Hepler said. “I think we'll be able to rebound a little bit better.”