The 2017 Pella Christian Boys basketball team will go down as one of the program’s best after their 2nd place finish at state and three-year run in the top three of Class 2A.

But the senior-heavy lineup will take 98 percent of the 1721 total points scored this past season when they graduate this spring. 

Head Coach Larry Hessing is aware of the major hole left behind by the Class of 2017, but says there’s a lot of promise remaining after a successful winter for both the JV and Freshman groups waiting in the wings.

“We had a really good sophomore season this year with just three losses and our freshman had one loss, so we know that they’re inexperienced at the varsity level but we think that we have some talent down there, and really, I’m looking forward to developing that team and seeing how good we can be because I have some confidence that we are going to develop into another good team,” Hessing says.

While it’s too early to tell specifics with the roster based on what could change in the next eight months, Hessing is counting on some of the younger siblings of this year’s varsity roster for key minutes, as well as current Juniors Kade Vander Molen and Alex Huisman to lead the young group.