One of Iowa’s premiere boys basketball conferences is gearing up for competition to begin in one week, and the Tulip City schools will once again likely feature prominently in the final standings.
Defending Little Hawkeye Conference and 3A state champions Pella and a preseason top 10 Pella Christian team both have eyes on staying competitive in what could be the deepest group of teams to compete in the league this winter.
Pella Head Coach Derek Schulte knows that whether they repeat as conference champions or if another team rises to the top of the standings, several schools in the Little Hawkeye could make deep postseason runs, and will likely do so with multiple losses because of the depth of talent competing.
“We’ve got high end coaches and high end players — I think there’s three D-1 guys in the league and a bunch of other guys who are playing college basketball at various levels,” Schulte says. “It’s coach speak that every night anyone can win, but I think that’s definitely going to be true as we look at scores every Tuesday and Friday night.”
There is high-level experience that is returning from last year, so I think some of those teams at the top will continue to be very competitive, and then you have some teams that return a lot of experience and are looking to take that next step. It’s an exciting time in our league, and last year we went 13-1 to win the Little Hawkeye Conference–I’ll be surprised if someone is to able to have that type of season because of the depth.”
Eagle Head Coach J.D. Boer believes they can create matchup issues on most nights if they are successful in using their distinct size advantage in a conference that will feature several guard-heavy, fast-paced and quality perimeter shooting teams.
“We’ve got to establish our inside presence and we’re going shoot threes and going to try play fast when we can–we’re working towards that and building on that,” Boer says. “There’s no doubt you’ve got to be ready to go, in this league, I think the top-end teams are really, really good — winning three straight 3A titles with three different programs speaks for itself.
You look at Indianola, Pella, and DCG — the top three finishers from last year return a lot and they’re going to be really good, and I think the bottom half of the league is really improving and a lot of programs that are getting better, so you just have to be ready to bring it every night.”
In terms of the preseason conversation as it relates to contenders, both Pella and Pella Christian join Indianola and Dallas Center-Grimes as the teams to beat, with the Indians, Dutch, and Mustangs returning several key scorers and the Eagles featuring the most returning starters and depth from 2020-21, which includes three players 6-7 or taller. Norwalk and Newton both figure to play spoiler several times throughout the season, while Oskaloosa and Grinnell may still find their share of victories.
Hear Little Hawkeye Conference boys basketball on KNIA/KRLS all winter long.