Knoxville boys basketball should be better next season. One reason is Coach Brad McWilliams will have nearly everybody back from a team that went five-and-17 this season. He says for the first time the major ball handlers will also return. Blake McWilliams who played point guard will returnalso Luke Moorewho not only was an inside presence for the Panthers but also developed an outside shot from 15-to-17 feet. McWilliams says that will be different but good to have experience back for next season.
The Pella Christian Eagles will be off until Saturday night. That’s when they will take on Des Moines Christian for a chance to go to the state tournament. Des Moines Christian is a team that Coach Larry Hessing and the Eagles know very wellhaving played them in the last game of the regular season. The Eagles easily won that meeting 88/53 at home. Eli Groenendyk had a field day in that game scoring 24 points and Cliff WarnerTyler Klyn and Jon Holwerda all reached double figures as well. Coach Hessing will hope for more of the same this time around but admitshe wishes they hadn’t played Des Moines Christian already. Pella Christian is yet to be really tested this post seasonwinning their games by an average of 40 points.
Local Wrestling Referee Mike Braden is retiring after 36 years at this weekends state dual meet. Braden wrestled for Oskaloosa and works at Pella Corp and had officiated several meets in Marion County. Braden called the state meet last week in Des Moines has been thinking about retirement for the last four years and realized that 2009 would be his last. Braden says his high school coach at Oskaloosa urged him to get into officiating . He has been selected to referee the state meet 22 timeshas been nominated Official of the Year nine times winning it in 1988.
Both the Central Men and Women Basketball seasons have come to a close. The Central Men finish the year at 13-and-13 after Tuesday’s Iowa Conference Tournament loss to Loras. The Men made the tournament as a sixth seed but were out after the first round. The Womenmeanwhileweren’t quite as fortunate finishing eight-and-17 overall. The bright spot for them was former P-C-M standout Laura Porter who finished up her career at Central joining the 1,000 point club. Miguel Ley was the leading scorer this year for the Men with 452 pointsand Porter led the Women with 374.
The Pleasantville wrestlers are preparing to travel to Cedar Rapids for the state dual tournament on Saturday. The Trojans are seeded seventh in the eight team bracketand will take on second seed Belle Plaine in the first round. The first match will get started at noon on mat one in the U-S Cellular Center. Head Coach Jason Anthony has seen quite a few good wrestlers and teamsbut he loves the teamwork hes seen from this years squad. Pleasantville comes in with a 23-and-three dual markand Belle Plaine comes in at 23-and-one.