POULSBO — If the Poulsbo Panther basketball team seems like it’s playing at a higher level this year, it may be because some of the players have been … well, playing at a higher level.

Not satisfied with pitting themselves against only junior-high competition, frontcourt player Ryan Young and guard Jacob Gonzales spent their summer in scrimmages against several players from North Kitsap High School.

“It was tough, getting used to their training,” said Gonzales, whose older brother Jerrod plays on the high school team, “but it was fun.”

“I worked on my shooting form and blocking out,” said Young, one of the nine ninth-graders on the varsity team.

The work over the summer was just a preview of the hard work the team is going through now. Head coach Clary Carlsen, who is putting the team through a tough series of workouts, admits he’s “picked it up a notch” in terms of conditioning.

So a recent practice unfolded with players sprinting their way towards layups; running back and forth with basketballs held over their heads; and speeding their way through drills.

Carlsen, who is assisted by Marshall Miranda, said the team has responded well to his demands: “They’re working hard,” he said. “They’re a good group.”

The varsity will be anchored by nine-ninth graders, who include Scott Clark, Jonathan Critch, Chaz Forsberg, Jacob Gonzalez, Jordan Howe, Ian Reynolds, Ryan Young, Daniel Yee, and Travis Tobin.

“We had a large turnout,” Carlsen said. “But a young turnout. Lots of eights and sevens, but not many nines.”

Carlsen said some of the younger players will be rotated into the varsity; he hasn’t decided which yet.

“I like what I see,” he said. “We’ve got a good core group. We’ll be okay.”

While the team is not overly tall, Carlsen said, he will look for some of the taller players, such as Ryan Young and Daniel Yee, to run the post play with precision. He also likes the talent he sees from guards such as Tobin and Gonzales.

“I want to see them compete,” Carlsen said. “If they compete they can make it exciting for the fans and themselves. And I’d love to see them improve their fundamentals.”

All the players, from the smallest seventh-grader to the ninth-graders who are eyeing high-school careers, have been working hard — “Carlsen’s been working us,” Young said. And they all want that work to pay off.

“I want to average a double-double a game,” Young said. “And we’d like to go 10-2.”

Gonzales echoed the 10-2 goal (“If we don’t do that, I’ll be disappointed”), which will be quite a jump for the Panthers, who went 5-7 last year.

Carlsen said, “They’ll be alright. But you never know until you start seeing them compete.”

For Carlsen and the Panthers, all will be revealed starting next week.