There is a big difference between the Cedar Rapids Xavier basketball team and the football team that Pella High played at the UNI-Dome in November: completely different players. The Saints’ top six scorers all did not play a lick of football at the varsity level in the fall, and save for Joe Welch, Matt Downey, and Ryan Stulken, Xavier will have mainly “one-trick ponies” taking to the hardwood on Tuesday in Des Moines. Coach Mike Ballenger feels that this should benefit the Little Dutch.
“I think anytime you put a kid under the gun, that’s why I hate to have a kid just specialize in one sport, because they don’t get under the gun enough,” Ballenger says. “I love it when kids play a variety of sports and become better in those sports, see how they perform. I think it’s less boring for the kid, too. I think he becomes a more focused athlete, because he’s focusing in every single sport and he enjoys those sports.”
The Saints also play in one of the most difficult conferences in the state, the Mississippi Valley conference, featuring teams like Dubuque Hempstead, Iowa City, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and other big town schools. Coach Ballenger also hopes that this plays to Pella’s advantage.
“I hope they’ve learned to lose,” Ballenger stresses. “They had eight losses in their league; we had two losses at the beginning of the year. I’m hoping we’ve learned to win every close game, I’m hoping they’ve learned to lose a few games along the way.”
Coach Phil Hemming tells KNIA/KRLS Sports they’ve had some help during practices last week to get them ready for Xavier.
“I think what really helps the quality of practice for us is just having a really good second unit,” Hemming says. “Actually, some of our JV guys have stuck around to help raise the level of competition in practice. You’re not going to see them in the stat sheet, you’re not even going to see them on the bench in game nights. The fact that they’re willing to give up their time off right now and continue to work hard just really elevates our top guys.”
The Little Dutch and Saints play the finale of the second day of the boys’ state basketball tournament.