At practice on Friday, the Pilgrim basketball team divided into two groups for drills, guards at one end of the court, post players at the other.

One end was a little more crowded.

The Pats are heavy on guards this season, which is a departure from last year when the team was built around its forwards. At that practice, only two players were working on their post moves. Some players are out with injuries, so the Pats will ultimately be more balanced, but the disparity is still a sign of a new identity.

“I have primarily guards,” said head coach Ross Callen. “Last year, I pretty much just had forwards. So it’s a totally different kind of team.”

The Pats hope they can take their new identity and run with it.

Last year, Pilgrim went 8-10 and qualified for the playoffs for the second year in a row. The nucleus of that team graduated, but some returning players are back to lead the way.

And they’ll be finding their own way.

Senior guards Kevin Cormier, Chris Nash and Tyler Pina will serve as the anchors in a guard-driven offense, the kind Pilgrim hasn’t had in recent years.

“Guard play should be our biggest strength,” Callen said. “We’ll be a lot quicker and hopefully push the ball up the floor a lot more.”

Nash, who saw significant action last year, will run the point, and Callen already likes what he’s seen from him. Nash led the charge as Pilgrim beat Davies last week in a non-league game.

“Chris knew what to do, how to set everything up and make sure everyone is in their proper place,” Callen said. “That’s important to have that kind of senior leadership.”

Along with Nash, Cormier and Pina should handle much of the scoring load. All three can get hot from long range.

On the frontline, the Pats don’t have as much experience. Senior Dylan Guerrero and junior Jon Stevens are the starters right now, and Callen was pleased with their performance against Davies.

The Pats have several other players who will be pushing for time. The senior class also includes Ari Brooks and Tom Martinez, while the junior class features Shane Allen, Manny Cavallini, Alex Flanagan, Brandon Greenburg, Nicholas Light, William Morris and James Pina.

As the Pats sort things out, they’ve at least taken a good first step. Callen was happy with the overall performance against Davies.

“We had a good showing,” Callen said. “We did some good things and we did some bad things, but I thought overall, we played pretty well. I thought we were very patient and we ran the offense. A lot of times when it’s the first game, things are kind of helter-skelter. But Chris came down and set everything up and we passed the ball pretty well.”

That’s a good sign for the Pats, and it adds to an already good atmosphere.

“They’re very intense, which is always a help,” Callen said. “They’re good kids and they want to be here. They all get along. I think we’ll have good team chemistry.”

Now the Pats will try to translate that into success.

“If they play well, I think we can a lot of games,” Callen said. “We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but I think we can do well. It’s up to them – how hard they work in practice at the fundamentals and how they carry that over into the games.”

Pilgrim will play another non-league game tonight at home against Exeter/West Greenwich. League play begins Friday with a game at Shea before a home game Dec. 22 against cross-town rival Toll Gate.