For the Whitehall Zephyrs this winter, it will be about putting the ball in the basket.

Sounds simple, but it’s true.

Zephyrs’ head coach Jeff Jones placed an emphasis on offense during the summer after his team struggled shooting from the floor.

“It was probably 80 to 20 in favor of emphasizing offense against defense,” said Jones. “There were too many games last year where we had trouble scoring.

“Our guys spent a lot of time in the gym, and you can start to see the results already.”

The Zephyrs lost four seniors from their lineup, but Jones believes the current senior group will make a difference in the team’s field goal percentage.

Seniors Tommy Buskirk, Bryce Bashore, Ian Werner, Ray Jackson, Damonte Foreman appear to have the inside track to open as their starting lineup.

“These guys had significant playing time last year,” said Jones. “They are familiar with the program, and they have meshed well together. We believe they give us a very good offensive option, but we have to improve on our 25 percent from three-pointers.

“There is a difference between these guys and last year’s team. They can put some points on the board.”

Whitehall is coming off a 4-13 season in which they began in an 0-4 hole, and never quite recovered.

“We started off playing Allen and Parkland twice,” recalled Jones. “In a blink of an eye, we were 0-4. It was tough for us to bounce back especially dealing with some COVID issues.

“But our young guys gained a lot of experience, and we should be a lot better because of it.”

Jones thought his team had a good summer despite having a regular group of seven players most of the time.

“Between football, baseball, and vacations, we had about seven guys and maybe sometimes eight,” he said. “But these guys really worked well together. They were very competitive, and you could see them get better.

“We know we are in the toughest division of the EPC (East Penn Conference), and we know we have to have some depth.”

Jones will look to senior Alex Derkits and sophomore Luke Keppel, both of whom made major strides,

“Derkits played well, and there was a lot of improvement,” he said.” Keppel played JV last year, and he has shot the ball well and is stronger.”

He also noted sophomore Gavin Roberts, and 6-5 freshman A.J. Hines, who could give the Zephyrs an inside presence they have sought for the last few years.

“He has good footwork and ball handling,” said Jones of his budding star. “It is great to have a presence like this, and he has all the tools. He is still learning, and he will have to be brought along.”

The Zephyr will open the season at the Bloomsburg Tip-Off Tournament before they open the regular season at home against state champion Allentown Central Catholic.

“We’ll have a good read where we are,” said Jones. “It will be a matter of scoring for us.”