TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Central Mountain's Blake Walker plays during a game last winter.

When it comes to Central Mountain basketball, departures don’t alter standards.

While the Wildcats parted ways with a stout senior class following last year’s District 6 Class 5A semifinal appearance, including 1,000-point scorer Hunter Hoy and multi-year starters Max Verrelli and Caleb Mahoney, expectations remain identical. Heading into the program’s 2025-26 campaign, head coach Tyler Bardo hopes to see his team compete for a Heartland I league title and make it back to the District 6 championship.

“With this group, it really is going to come down to living up to our standards every day,” said Bardo. “We’ve done it multiple times as a program, both those goals. We just want to make sure that the guys that have been in the program and seen it happen have those experiences as well.”

From last year’s squad, seniors Blake Walker and Noah Wells return harboring starting experience, with Walker having started each of the previous two seasons. The Wildcats also return sharpshooter Darius Shade, who averaged 8.2 points per game at sixth man last season and proved notable as a sparkplug off the bench.

As a first-year starter, Wells prospered in the elevated role, finishing as the team’s second leading scorer behind Hoy with 8.7 points per game. Walker has proven he can do it all, operating well as a scorer, rebounder and defender.

“They’re certainly our most experienced varsity basketball players, and they have a lot of great attributes on their own,” said Bardo on the trio. “Darius is obviously a really strong shooter. Noah is really strong at getting to the basket. And I think Blake is probably of the best competitors in that class and in the area.”

“When you have those three pieces, it’s easy to have the guys that understand the standard of playing that we want to live up to. The question now is going to be, can those three lead the way?” he added.

In that new task of leadership, the trio will be joined by plenty of returners that have seen playing time and sport promise.

Seniors Isah Dorman and Carson Couturiaux are each returning letterman that will be taking on larger roles this season after coming off the bench. Sophomore Collin Confer showed flashes as a freshman in a do-it-all role and will also take on a new role. And notably, seniors Calen Hunter and Dane Hanna will see their first action of varsity basketball, with Hunter returning after a multi-year battle with injuries.

Hunter in particular gives the program another dimension compared to last season. Standing at 6,6″ and weighing about 240 pounds, he’ll provide size to a team that was lacking in that regard one season ago.

“He’s a good athlete at that size, which could be a game changer, a team changer. We’re not rushing him into anything, but we’re trying to develop and progress him because we know that only adds to our evolution throughout the season,” said Bardo on Hunter.

“He’s had to put in a lot of work to be able to get back to the floor, so it’s interesting to watch him as he goes. He gets stronger every day. The game slows down for him every day, and it looks like he’s moving really well.”

Though it has a nice group of freshmen, that amount of promise and experience will keep them on junior varsity for the season barring catastrophe. Heading into the campaign, the Wildcats sport nine seniors and three juniors on their roster, so the focus is having that group continue to develop together while the group coming up does the same.

Without Hoy, another focus will be finding that individual that can take over when necessary. Wells showed flashes of that potential last season with numerous double-digit scoring outings, but Bardo expects the unit stepping up as a whole to be key.

“I think that makes us a very dangerous group, but we have to understand that it could come from any number of guys in every single game,” said Bardo.

“We have a few guys that can score, albeit in different ways. We have guys that can make an impact defensively, albeit in different ways. So, we have to really do a good job of accepting that and buying into that.”

Another challenge is simply strength of schedule. On top of residing in typically deep Heartland-I conference, Central Mountain didn’t let up when scheduling tough non-conference opponents, as it faces storied Laurel Highlands foes in Central, Forest Hills and Tyrone and as a whole, rarely gets time to breathe.

“All of them,” laughed Bardo when asked which upcoming opponents stood out. “We have numerous teams that made state runs to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 a year ago on our schedule. It sounds cliche, but there isn’t a night that we can have where we are not locked in and at the highest level of our competitiveness.”

With that in mind, this new-look group will have a lot to overcome, but there’s plenty of confidence in it doing so.