A senior-dominated team is a wonderful asset for a head coach to have, but it can also mean a pretty bare cupboard for the following season. That is the exact scenario that head coach Larry Hessing and the Pella Christian boys basketball team are looking at entering this season.

“When you look at it on paper, all five starters last year were seniors, so we don’t have any returning starters; and when you look at minutes – there’s not a lot of returning minutes – but there were some kids who are seniors this year that got some important playing time,” said Hessing.

“That’s part of the deal. We’re trying to teach more than basketball; we’re trying to teach and hone leadership skills, so we’ve got a new group of kids who need to become leaders this year.”

The starting five alone from last season accounted for 87 percent of Pella Christian’s offense, so Hessing will certainly need to find productivity from a number of new sources.

The Eagles do, however, have another large senior class in their favor, a number of which played quality minutes throughout last season and will be expected to lead in the coming months.

The Pella Christian boys open the new campaign on Monday with a tough home-opener against West Marshall.

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