With a veteran core returning, Whitehall’s boys’ basketball team entered the summer with an optimistic view.

The Zephyrs are coming off a 19-9 overall season that saw them advance to the opening round of the state playoffs, dropping a 52-38 decision to Chambersburg. Whitehall lost to Allen in the District 11 Class 6A consolation game to help punch their ticket to states.

They will lose starters like leading scorer center A.J. Hines along with forward Mason Roberts, both of whom played key roles in their ascent last season.

But they will return a seasoned core led by incoming senior Seth Hoderewski along with fellow senior Talon and junior Tanner Dogmanits, who all provide a solid base.

Veteran head coach Jeff Jones, who will begin his 19th year at the helm, also will look to incoming seniors Cole Richards, Omar Ratliff, Ali Najim, Josh Roman, along sophomores Cole Rozycki, and Henry Schultz to help round out the early rotation during the summer. All of them saw varsity time last season.

Caiden Robertson and Owen Gilbert have looked good in the early going after they made the jump from JV this summer.

The Zephyrs are playing in the Lehigh Valley Summer Basketball League, and they will play in two local tournaments. The team is just 2-6 heading into this summer’s first tourney. They won’t participate in any team camps this summer, but they did hold their annual basketball camp for boys in grades three through nine (freshman) back in June, and also did three-day-a-week summer workouts.

With some new faces in the mix and some late returnees, Jones is confident his team will mesh throughout the rest of the month.

“We just got back the volleyball and baseball players as they just finished their seasons,” Jones said back in May. “We’ll look forward to our guys meshing together, and see how the summer plays out.”