The Wallkill boys’ basketball team had one of its best regular season runs in 2021-2.

The Panthers won 20 of their 22 games, took the Mid-Hudson Athletic League championship before falling in the Section 9 Class A championship game to the Goshen Gladiators.

However, it’s going to be a very different team on the court this year, as the Panthers have lost the core of that team to graduation.

Gone are Mat Shea, the school’s all-time leading scorer. They have also lost 3-point threat Kyle Krebs, inside man Jeremy Figueroa, guard R.J. Taylor, forward Jack Rauschenbach, Eric Blackshear, guard Ty Crowley and Dominic Pelella.

However, they will return some key returning talent in Sean Perrin, Mason Ondreyko, Gabe Crespi, Colin McCartney and Nick Dilemme. They’ll mix with Chris Baccaro, Miles McKenney, John Canavan and Chris Bartolone.

Despite that, the Panthers’ goals remain the same: to win a Mid-Hudson Athletic League and Section 9 championship.

“We have a team of hard-working, defensive-minded players,” Wallkill coach Hunter Andrews said. “I am excited to compete and get better with them each day.”

The Chapel Field Lions enjoyed the most success amongst local basketball teams last winter, winning the Section 9 Class D championship for the first time in 31 years with a 45-34 win over Mount Academy.
The Lions only had two seniors on last year’s squad – Daimen Storch and Tyler Hossink – and are expected to return the core of last year’s team, including juniors Jonah McDuffie, who led the Lions in their season-opening loss to the Wallkill Panthers. The Panthers are 2-0 so far this season.

The Lions’ two seniors are Noah Swart and Bryce Hollo.

The Pine Bush Bushmen are heading into a bit of a rebuilding season in coach Dan Conley’s third season at the helm. A year after posting an 11-10 record and reaching the Section 9 Class AA semifinals, the Bushmen will have to find their way through 2022-23 without graduated seniors Colin Best, Jacob Santiago, Evan Jaloszynski, Joseph Darrell, Joseph Gleason, Dion Cauthen and Derek Hickman.

Of the Bushmen’s returners, only Mason Miranowicz has significant varsity experience.

“This will be a rebuilding year for us,” Conley said. “We graduated seven seniors that played a lot of minutes for us and had great leadership qualities. This team does not have a lot of varsity game experience, so we’re looking to get their feet wet and build to get better each game.”

It could be an interesting year for the Valley Central Vikings, who finally get back their top player Raysean Johnson, who missed last season with injury. He will take the court with Jerrell Taylor, who led the Vikings on the court last year.

They already made an impact so far this season, as the Vikings have split their first two games, scoring a 30-point victory over the Port Jervis Raiders, before falling by four points to Monroe-Woodbury on Thursday.

Johnson and Taylor scored 49 of the Vikings’ 58 points. Johnson had 32 and Taylor had 17.