How will Butler fare after the graduation of 2,000-point scorer Devin Carney?

How does a season-ending injury to Luke Cramer affect Karns City this winter?

What will Slippery Rock do for an encore after turning in its best campaign in 14 seasons?

Can Seneca Valley translate its talent into a return to the WPIAL playoffs?

These are just a few of the questions facing Butler County area high school boys basketball teams. They will begin to get some answers at various tip-off tournaments this weekend.

Following are previews of all 12 boys teams in the Butler County area.

A-C Valley

Coaches: Brad Dittman, Chris McNany

Dittman and McNany decided to take over as co-head coaches, a distinction that not many prep squads have.

“We’ve been best friends for a long time,” Dittman said. “We’re working it as kind of a 50/50 venture. He takes care of stuff, I take care of stuff, and we work together.”

Dittman watched from the stands a season ago as the Falcons finished two games below .500 and short of the playoffs.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that work hard and I think that’s going to turn into good things for us,” Dittman said. “We feel like we’ve got nine, 10 guys — legitimately basketball guys — that can run a rotation for us.”

Seniors Alex Preston and Ryan Cooper and juniors Jay Clover and Ryan Cooper are back to fill starting roles; while Ian Runyan, Seth Best, and Lane Bauer saw the floor a good deal last go-round, too.

“To take the next step, they need to learn how to finish games,” Dittman said. “They need to work hard, they need to work together and mesh here on some of the things we want to do.”

Butler

Coach: Matt Clement

Devin Carney and his 2,000 points are gone. Three other starters graduated as well, leaving the Golden Tornado with one returning regular from last year’s 14-8 team: Madden Clement.

The senior guard will be used in a variety of ways.

“Madden will be moved around quite a bit,” Butler coach Clement said. “We don’t have many forwards and he can score some points inside. He may handle the ball at times and we’ll count on him for points and defense.”

Madden averaged 11.4 points and hit 61 3-pointers last season. He had 37 steals defensively. Braylon Littlejohn, a junior, averaged eight points and three assists as Butler’s sixth man last year and will be in the starting lineup.

“Braylon played so much last year, he’s like a returning starter,” Coach Clement said.

Freshman point guard Donovan Carney, Ayden Davis and Ryan Porch will compete for starting minutes, as will forward Colin Casteel, guards Ryan McLister and Tayt Lucas, forwards Coleton Welter and Mac Schnur.

Lance Slater is medically cleared to return to athletics from his broken ankle last summer. He figures into the mix, along with forward James Desmond.

“We plan to run and press quite a bit,” Coach Clement said. “This will be a different type of team in that our scoring will be much more balanced. Devin could create his own points and we don’t have that this year.

“It will take us a while to sort things out.”

Seneca Valley, North Allegheny, Pine-Richland, Central Catholic and New Castle are in Butler’s section this season.

“It’s hard to believe two of those teams could miss the playoffs,” Coach Clement said. “I hope there’s a lot of tied records at the bottom so we can all go.”

Freeport

Coach: Sean Devinney

With a good amount of their crew consisting of guys that just finished their football season, the Yellowjackets are dealing with some bumps and bruises.

Devinney is hoping that defense travels.

“We need to get back to the team that we were at the end of last year and in the summer,” he said. “We defend, and that’s how we got to where we got to last year ... That’s where we had our success.”

Freeport knocked off Uniontown in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs a year ago. The ‘Jackets also won the St. Joe’s league this past summer.

Senior guard Zach Clark brings toughness and a calming demeanor, Devinney said. Fellow seniors Ben Lane, Brady Stivenson, Parker Lucas, Gavin Croney, and Payton Westendorf are also in the mix for a starting spot. Junior Brady Sullivan was among the team’s top scorers in 2021.

“We have a lot of guys who have logged a lot of varsity minutes in the past,” Devinney said. “The good thing is, they know that last year is last year. It’s an open competition again this year.”

Karns City

Coach: Zach Kepple

The Gremlins reached the final 16 in the state last season, going 20-8 in Kepple’s first season. Two starters from that team — Luke Garing and Cole Sherwin — have graduated and a third, Luke Cramer, is out for the year with a knee injury. He averaged 12.5 points per game a year ago.

That leaves junior point guard Taite Beighley and senior forward Micah Rupp as returning starters. Rupp averaged 10.9 points and 9.8 rebounds last year.

“We’re hoping to get more scoring out of Micah,” Kepple said. “He’s a standout on the defensive end, for sure, with his rebounding and ability to block shots. Taite’s got experience at point guard and that’s always a good thing.”

Guard-forwards Braden Grossman and Jacob Callihan, along with guard Hobie Bartoe, figure to round out the starting five. Top players off the bench are 6-foot-5 sophomore forward Shane Peters, Billy Kelly and Colson Ritzert.

“Shane was a tight end in football,” Kepple said. “He’s athletic and he’ll get on the boards for us. Grossman and Callihan could average 8 to 10 points a game. Our strength is our overall experience among the starters.

“We do have a lot of new players and we have to jell as a team.”

Knoch

Coach: Alan Bauman

Entering his third year at the helm, Bauman will have a different looking team this season from last year’s 6-16 squad.

Ryan Lang, one of the most prolific scorers in program history, is now playing at Allegheny College. Keagan Fraser is playing football at Grove City. Wings James Snyder and Zarian Finucan are the lone returning starters.

“I’m not sure what our starting lineup will look like once everyone settles in, but we’ve got some freshmen in the mix,” Bauman said. “We’ve got talented kids,. but they’re young.”

The Knights’ other three starters will come from sophomore Kaden Spencer and freshmen Jackson Bauman, Teagan Finucan, Derek Lang and Zane Pacek. Zane is a 6-foot-10 forward.

“He’s a big kid, weighs about 250 pounds, and he’s solid,” Bauman enthused. “We have to teach him how to be physical in the right way on the court, to get low, but he’s an athlete. He’s a pitcher in baseball.”

Bauman said the strength of his team is its depth and flexibility.

“We just need to gain experience,” he said.

Key players off the bench include senior wing Gasparo Porco and 6-4 sophomore post player Jackson Pacek.

“Two of the top five teams in the WPIAL — Highlands and Hampton — are in our section this year,” the coach said. “Indiana and Greensburg Salem, we don’t know much about. Freeport has a unique brotherhood working for them.

“We just want to be competitive.”

Mars

Coach: Rob Carmody

Turnover is something every high school team must deal with, but year in and year out, the Planets find a way to plug the gaps and remain one of the better teams in the WPIAL.

Mars has won nine section titles over the last 10 seasons and even though the team lost some leaders and talent from last year’s squad, hopes remain high in Adams Township.

The top priority this season is to endure the blow dealt by the graduation of star point guard Zach Schlegel, who scored 1,000 points in his career along with exhibiting unwavering leadership.

“At point guard, we went from having Garrett Ashbaugh to Christian Schmitt to Andrew Recchia to Zach Schlegel,” said Carmody. “We were so lucky to have capable guys move in and play well at that position. Basically for 12 years, we had a clear-cut guy who we could count on.”

Running the show this year will be a combination of senior Tasso Sfanos and sophomore Austin Campbell. Sfanos excelled last year at shooting guard, scoring 16.4 points per game and draining 47 treys.

“Austin played a lot at the end of games last year,” said Carmody. “He hit some big shots for us, but it was a very specific role. Obviously, there’s going to be a learning curve with him moving to the point.”

Aiding the team’s chances in the frontcourt will be Remi Black, a 6-foot-6 center, and Ryan Ceh, a 6-5 forward. They will be counted on to put up numbers to compensate for the loss of Chris Dvorak, a senior last year who averaged a double-double of 10.5 points and 13.1 rebounds.

“It’s a great advantage for us to have those two guys as long as they’re in there fighting. Ryan’s a really athletic kid who can shoot the ball, but he needs to take the next step.”

Moniteau

Coach: Mike Jewart

The Warriors are coming off a seven-win season, but have four solid returning lettermen in forward Colton Thomas, point guard Jason Delarosa-Rugg, guard-forwards David Dessicino and Aydan Jackson. All four will contend for starting positions.

“But we’ve got plenty of competition for those starting spots,” Jewart said.

Also looking to crack the lineup are senior guards David Martino and Dylan Bush, along with freshman point guard/shooting guard Andrew Zepeda. The latter played junior high ball for Butler last season before his family moved into the Moniteau district.

“That kid’s a player. He’ll definitely help us,” Jewart said.

Connor Ealy and Landon Kelly figure to help the Warriors off the bench.

“Our strength is our athleticism,” Jewart said. “We hope to be a running team and I’m comfortable going nine-deep. We need to improve our ability to defend. That will be key to our success.

“We don’t have that guy who’s going to score 20 points a night. Instead, we’ll have three or four guys scoring 10 to 15 points. That’s the formula that has to work for us.”

Jewart said every team’s goal is to win a title, “but more importantly, I want to see us play together and play for each other.”

North Catholic

Coach: Jim Rocco

Last year, the Trojans possessed little in terms of returning production, but went on to post an 18-4 record.

Now a number of known commodities return after having turned in impressive individual seasons.

Guards Andrew Maddalon, Max Rottmann and Max Hurray are all back after putting up a combined 45 points per contest. Rottmann added, on average, five rebounds and four assists.

“We have some veteran guys who are skilled, tough kids,” said Rocco. “They know what it takes to play at a high level.”

Senior guard Matt Ellery will also figure prominently into North’s strategy.

One void the team must fill was left by the graduation of forward Ben Tomer, who put up an average of 10 points and seven rebounds.

North does not have a true frontcourt player on this season’s roster, but Rocco expects a strong effort every night.

“They’re going to be feisty and play ridiculously hard,” he said. “Last year was my first year as head coach and the players and I are more used to each other.”

Seneca Valley

Coach: Kevin Trost

Trost recognized a plus for his team that has nothing to do with returning starters or talented newcomers.

For the last two years, Class 6A teams in the WPIAL's Section 1 played each other three times, with section play beginning less than a week into the season.

The Raiders lost their first four section games in 2021-22 and missed the playoffs with a 4-8 record.

"We have a lot of multi-sport guys," Trost said. "Guys who play football and soccer and it took us a while to get acclimated with those players moving in from the fall sports season. Last year, our third game of the season was a section game and it killed us."

While the section remains very challenging with familiar foes North Allegheny, Pine-Richland and Butler, and new additions Central Catholic and New Castle, SV does not play a section game until Jan. 3 when it hosts Butler.

"It gives us some time to figure things out and that's a huge benefit for us," said Trost.

Connor Oros was the team's backup point guard a year ago and will move into a starting role. The Raiders will have the height advantage in most games with forwards Luke Lawson (11.1 points and five rebounds per game last year) and Aiden Lyczek both standing 6-foot-3 and center Andrew Roy at 6-4.

Jackson Wetzel, a 6-1 guard, will also be part of what Trost hopes is an eight-man rotation.

Slippery Rock

Coach: AJ Motta

The Rockets bring back four starters from last year’s crew, which went 13-10. All of them have multiple years of experience, which should bode well.

That senior group includes three-year starter and point guard John Sabo, a 2021 first-team all-region pick, and Dylan Gordon, who paced the team with 46 treys. Elam Pyle and standout golfer Jacob Wolak also return.

“Last year was our best year in a little while,” Motta said. “Having four starters back and a bunch of those guys filling those other spots ... it’s helping our chemistry a lot. Guys know where other people are going to be. We’re not having to constantly read.

“We kind of have that sixth sense.”

Motta hopes that the familiarity will help create more mismatches for foes.

“That’s the name of our game, is create matchup problems and attack,” Motta said.

Scrappy seniors Quinn Parson and Garrett Stabryla are names to watch out for at forward and guard, respectively. As is junior swing player Levi Prementine, who brings driving and shooting ability to the offense.

Summit Academy

Coach: William Sharpe

Sharpe has been in charge of the Knights for four campaigns. The challenge he faces this year is nothing new.

“With new kids coming in, they don’t stay here more than a year,” Sharpe said. “Every year, it’s a new team. Our main thing is getting these kids heads back on the right track. Basketball is here to teach them more of the skills they’re going to use outside of just playing the sport.”

With most kids playing organized basketball for the first time, communication skills are crucial.

“These kids have people and places that just gave up on them after they did wrong one time or they made a mistake,” Sharpe said. “We care more about them being a better person in life than making a shot or winning.”

He feels that the young team is one that could come together as the schedule progresses.

“Give me a couple weeks, man, we might be a two- or a three-seed,” Sharpe said. “I like this group of kids because they listen a lot more ... They’re buying into what I have to say.”

Union

Coach: Eric Mortimer

Caden Rainey's impact on the Golden Knights last season went far beyond his 14.4 points, 3.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.

"He was a leader," Mortimer emphasized of the graduated Rainey. "He was our point guard and it's a void we have to fill."

Despite the loss, Mortimer believes the pieces are in place to improve on last year's one-and-done showing in the District 9 Class A playoffs.

Cornerstones will be senior guard Payton Johnston and junior forward Dawson Camper, who combined to post 21 points and 17 rebounds per game last year. They join senior guard Skyler Roxbury as returning starters.

Junior Trey Fleming will handle most duties at point guard. Swingman Hayden Smith, Union's state champion high jumper, should see an expanded role this season. Guard Jake Bowser and Zander Laughlin, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound forward/center, will also be in the mix.

"The size we have will help," said Mortimer. "Dawson has quickness and is very aggressive going after rebounds.

"I'm not saying any of our guys are going to become Caden Rainey, but we have guys capable of handling the ball. Losing a leader is tough, but I believe we can surpass what happened last year."