This year, the Little Hawks have a new head coach in Bill McTaggart. The former state champion girls’ varsity coach, who later transitioned to the boys’ sophomore team, is now the boys’ varsity head coach. He is looking to turn around what has been an underperforming basketball program in recent years.

The Little Hawks started the season strong with a 62-39 win over Ottumwa on Monday, avenging last year’s playoff loss to the same team that ended their season. On Tuesday, however, the Ames Little Cyclones, ranked 14th, came to town and defeated the Little Hawks 49-40. Despite the loss, the Little Hawks showed signs of improvement throughout the game.

This year’s City High team has many new faces. Two returning starters are junior point guard Davion Luckett and senior center Parker Sutherland. Aside from them, the team is largely fresh. Junior Chris Watkins, making his first varsity start, scored 22 points in his debut against Ottumwa. Other starters include senior Dom Salibi, who is returning to basketball after a year off, and junior Iyon Harris, who was on the sophomore team last year.

Another key player for the Little Hawks is senior forward Jaxton Schroeder. He is new to City High basketball this year but made an immediate impact, recording a double-double in his debut against Ames after missing the first game due to a broken finger.

Later in the week, the Little Hawks will travel to Cedar Rapids to face Xavier on Thursday, then head to Muscatine on Saturday to play the Muskies.