The Enumclaw boys are back on the hardwood as the South Puget Sound League 3A hoop season gets under way.

The Hornets have two returning veterans from last year and three who played both junior varsity and varsity.

Drake Rademacher is a returning firstteam all-league player. Bryce Peterson was the Hornets’ sixth man last season, mostly due to missing the first half of the season due to a broken arm.

Coach Kellen Hall said the three swing players are Erik Van Hulse, Zac Webb and Trey Rodarte. “We expect significant contributions from all three of those guys as they step into bigger roles,” Hall said.

The coach said the team has height and that will help in the “transition both ways on the court. We have many interchangeable parts and many of our guys can be successful both inside and out. You’ll see quite a bit of motion basketball, working together to create the best opportunities.”

The coach expects the Hornets to be a good shooting team and attack the hoop.

“Our challenge will be to get our relatively green group of players to play the high energy, tough-nosed defense that we hope to play,” Hall said.

“I think our team is very talented, but relatively inexperienced,” Hall said. “While our two returners both will be playing their third season of varsity, the rest of our team is adapting to being full-time varsity players. For that reason, I think we could have some ups and downs in the early season. With our league play not starting until January, I hope that our team can learn to play together, as well as at the level needed for varsity basketball. I think we should be in the middle to upper half of our league by seasons end. Though that all depends on how we progress through the season, as we have a lot of work to do.

Enumclaw will play at 7 p.m. Thursday at White River and in the Tipoff Classic at 2 p.m. Saturday at Auburn Riverside.