Despite a tough loss last week to West, there are still high expectations for the City High boys team this season. Before the West game, the Hawks rolled through their first two opponents, a Wiescamp-less Muscatine that the Hawks held to 15 points, and a Fort Madison team that the City scored 73 on. Coach Derek Roberts, the head varsity coach, noted what the team gained from those wins.

“I think it’s good for them. [The games] helped give them some confidence and [let them] see what we’re trying to do is going to pay off,” Roberts said.

Despite these initial wins, there is still an expectation that more improvement will come as the season continues.

“I think we need to be able to handle pressure more, be able to box out, get defensive rebounds…not turning the ball over, [and] making sure we get good shots on offense,” said senior Ryland (Ry) Threlkeld-Wiegand.

But no matter how much they improve with these aspects and others, the team will always look to improve further and look at every aspect of their game in order to find every area they can improve in.

“As a coach you’re never really satisfied with where you are at. We’ve got a long way to go in the season,” said Roberts.
Leading up to the season, the Little Hawks worked to improve their team and flip the recent shortcomings the team has experienced through offseason workouts and team building.

“We have a communication circle at the end [of practice] where we do a different activity every day,” said Quincy Wells ‘19. “I feel like that’s helped us bond and be closer.”

But their growth doesn’t end on the court. In fact, off the court is where the team grows to be more of a family so that they have more cohesion and teamwork on the court.

“Our guys put in more time in the off-season…you see a couple of the results here from our first games and we’ve done some better things and it’s all a result of our key to sticking to the process, working their butts off in the weight room during the off-season, and skill development. It’s all just guys doing stuff in the offseason,” said Roberts.

The work put in by the Little Hawks will hopefully help the team improve from last year after having only five wins.
Going into the City-West game, City High saw its two-game win streak snapped by a 30-point loss to West, 66-36. The previously stout-looking defense crumbled under a talented West team, led by Patrick McCaffery ‘19 with 30 points.

“It seemed a lot bigger of a loss than it was because it was West High,” said Ry Threlkeld-Wiegand. “But in reality, it was the third game of the season and we will bounce back from that.”

Going into the season, Liam McComas ‘19 knows this season is about getting comfortable with his new role as a more physical player with a larger presence on the team.

“I just had to know my role. [I’m the guy] that’s going to set the hard screen or somebody and then roll off, get a quick and easy little layup, and then get back in defense and really hammer the boards,” McComas said.

McComas is enthusiastic about his role, and in his final season he wants to put everything he has on the court, every game that he plays.

“I just don’t want there to be any regrets this season, or have anything to look back on and feel it wasn’t the right thing to do,” said McComas.