Last year’s Bonney Lake boys basketball squad struggled through the long season hoping to make the playoffs.

The Panther players had to get used to a brand new regime under Rob Smith and played within the limitations of an extremely thin roster. The squad was bolstered mostly by sharpshooters Ramsey Thoms and Nathan Day, who both averaged in the double digits from the field, as well 6-foot, 6-inch Mike Gould.

The big cats did make it to the second season, but once they reached that goal, the Panthers lost their initial subdistrict meeting to Bremerton High.

A lot has changed since that 2010-11 campaign.

Smith stopped short of saying that the Panthers’ plans will revolve around Gould, but he did admit that, “something just clicked with Gould,” while he was playing summer league ball.  He began to foul out a lot less, instead learning critical body control to become a more integral cog for the black and teal’s basketball picture.

This time out Gould will be surrounded by players like Lawrence Williams, who saw plenty of hardwood minutes last year, E.J. Harris, Zach Zaragoza, Kaleb Zahnow, Keenan Jackson and Michael Gretler.

“We play in a unbelievably skilled league as Lakes High is a perennial favorite, Auburn Mountainview and Decatur are always very good and Enumclaw has a new coach this season,” said Smith, who noted that his hoops troops are beginning to buy in to what he is selling.