POLSON —The Polson Pirates boys basketball team will have a mixture of youth and experience as they prepare to head into the 2016-2017 season.

Pirates’ Coach Randy Kelley is still in the process of solidifying his roster as of press time.

“I think we will be six or seven strong and we are going to have to find some depth,” Kelley said. “We have a lot of kids coming back. Some that haven’t played a lot of varsity will still step in and give us the depth that we are looking for.”

Kelley said to get his kids seasoned he has created a fairly tough schedule that allows his kids to get acclimated to the strength of the schedule.

“Our schedule is pretty tough and it’s a learning process,” Kelley said. “It’s a work in progress, and we want to be playing our best basketball come late February and early March.

The Pirates had three players that played basketball in tournaments in Las Vegas in the off season. Because of this, they were a late addition and didn’t participate in the summer.

“I thought all of our kids worked hard for the most part and we will have to help them now because if you lose a month of basketball, you lose a lot,” Kelley said. The Pirates will have some all-state returners including Matthew Rensvold and Tanner Wilson, two players that have played in Polson’s system since they were freshmen.

They will also have Shade Main, Connor Lanier, and Jaydon Bautista who have impressed coach Kelly this summer.

Polson will also have Jeremiah North Piegan, who moved from Ronan last season but wasn’t eligible to play varsity basketball until late Jan.

The Pirates, who finished third in the state last year, have a lot of playoff experience, according to Kelley.

“That is something that you really can’t put a price tag on,” Kelley said.

Kelly said he is aware the season is a long process and he is looking to utilize the early portion of the season to “improve.”

“We don’t really look at win-loss records and it’s a long process,” Kelley said. “We start in November it doesn’t end hopefully until Mid-March. We have to get better every day and show up in the gym. Last year, our free throw shooting percentage is something that we needed to get better. We would like to hold teams in the mid 40s. If we can, that is pretty good. I harp on that a lot. We have good team defense and offense going, and we will come along as the season progresses.”