Eagle basketball head coach Ryan Pedersen welcomed 21 total kids to the first practice for his seventh season, and while he has three returning starters he will need to plug a few of those other kids into either starting roles or the first few off the bench in order for this team to reach their potential.
“We have a good core of freshmen and sophomores this year,” stated Pedersen. “We also have a decent amount of height coming back, with three guys over 6’2”. All three of them could present matchup problems for opposing teams. They like to play inside and outside.” He feels that while that is a team strength, there is also potential weaknesses in other areas “We will need to have someone step up and take on the job of point guard,” said the head coach. “Ball handling and passing will be a huge part of this season. We will also need to cut down on our turnovers to be successful.”
The team went 4-18 last year, with several new faces taking their share of lumps while having to grow up quickly in a tough Top of Iowa West. Those same guys would now like to turn that record around and do their share of the winning. Four capable seniors, who are well battle tested, will anchor the roster.
Chase Mason enjoyed a breakout junior season, leading the team in scoring at 15.0 ppg while grabbing a high of 121 rebounds and swatting down 13 shots. He will definitely need to keep those numbers up, if not increase them a bit, to offset the loss of Enzo Gebara to graduation. “Chase has been with us since he was a sophomore,” said Pedersen. “He has played varsity since day one. He has been a consistent scorer the past two seasons. I’m hoping he can continue this trend and play good defense on the other end. He will have his hands full this season with some of the posts in our conference.”
Jake Darland returns a 6.0 ppg average and was second in rebounds with 107 while also tying Thomas Matthes with 21 steals each to lead that category. “Jake has been on varsity since his freshman year, and during his sophomore year was forced into a starting position due to multiple injuries on our team,” said Pedersen. “He has been our best on-ball handler all three years, and he has long arms and works hard against each team’s best offensive player. I am looking for good things this season from him.”
Austin Purcell scored at a 4.9 ppg clip last year, and if he can increase that it would greatly benefit the team as well. “He’s a very good shooter that needs to be a little more selfish,” said the coach. “He is a sneaky, good athlete that will need to be aggressive this season for us to be successful. I believe he has it in him.”
Desmond Weber is a senior and returning letterwinner, and while he didn’t see a lot of minutes a year ago his experience could come in handy on this team. “He’s a hard worker. And I’m looking for him to be a player that does the ‘dirty work’ for us in taking charges, rebounding and diving on the floor after loose balls,” said Pedersen.
The coach also has a much-needed fifth senior, as Adam Herrington is back after taking a year off from the game. “He is also a hard worker and an all-around good kid,” said Pedersen. “We are hoping he can help us with ball handling and provide senior leadership. These seniors are a good group, with most of them playing at least their third year of varsity ball. I’m looking for all of them to step up and carry this team all season.”
Alex Sisson starts his third season as Pedersen’s assistant and JV coach, while former Eagle student-athlete Spencer Espejo becomes a volunteer assistant. Managers this year are Cadence Kaiser and Kaylynn Kepler. “They will both help us out during practice and at home games,” said the head coach. “It’s been great to have managers that want to help out our team.”
Pedersen feels the West Division crown will be fought for by Lake Mills, Forest City and Garner-Hayfield/Ventura. “All three return good players on both ends of the court,” said Pedersen. “After them, there will probably be a close race for the remaining spots. I am hoping we can finish in the middle of the pack. There are a couple of teams that we match up well against. We will just need to go out and execute our game plan.”
