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After a one-loss regular season and an ouster in the Division IV district semifinal round in 2016-17, the Bristol Panthers want to do even more this campaign.
"It will be tough after we lost our best on-ball defender and our best inside defender," Bristol coach Craig Giesy said. "Luckily for us, our top three scorers are back again. Tommy Donadio, Bryan Gabrielson have been great. Gage Elza has really stepped up in the summer and shown what he can be."
With those three still in the mix, the Panthers have a shot at repeating their success from last year which included an undefeated Northeastern Athletic Conference season. Bristol won the Stars Division in the NAC.
Last season, Donadio broke out as one of the area's premier point guards as he averaged 19.3 points per game as a junior. He has been a starter since he was a freshman with the Panthers.
Gabrielson averaged 16.3 points last year, while Damion Durst will be the Panthers' defensive anchor.
Elza will have to be huge for this Bristol team. He shot 47-of-108 from 3-point range for a 43.5 percent clip. That will have to increase for Bristol to get even better.
"We need guys to be hitting on all cylinders if we want to achieve what we want," Giesy said. "It hurt this team losing to JFK the way we did. They know what I expect and they have expectations of themselves moving forward."
On top of a great returning class for Giesy, he also gets an experienced player in Bobby Evan along for his senior season. Evan played the last three years at Maplewood and transferred to Bristol. He will have to sit out until the 12th game of the year.
"I've been coaching for seven years now and this is a first, honestly. I thought he was crazy to do so," Giesy said about Evan transferring. "Although, I completely understand because he is so close with this senior class. The way he played during the summer, I feel like he's been with us for years."
Giesy said he thinks Evan being held out for half the year might actually benefit the Panthers.
"Usually you get to that midway point of the year and all the guys are moving a little slower, playing a tad behind," he said. "I think Bobby can break that lull in the action, so to speak, and possibly re-energize the guys a bit."
Giesy said that he enjoys this group because he doesn't have to do too much coaching since the group communicates so well on and off the court.