Waukon boys basketball team returns four letterwinners as 2018-2019 season gets underway


2018-2019 Waukon boys basketball team ... Left to right - Front row: Carson Wille, Alyx Ede, Pryce Hesse, Carter Benzing, Logan Houg. Back row: Michael Headington, Michael Sweeney, Creed Welch, Asher Fahey, Reed Kelly. Not pictured: Zach Davison.

2018-2019 Waukon boys basketball returning letterwinners ... Left to right: Creed Welch, Michael Headington, Michael Sweeney, Pryce Hesse.

The Waukon boys basketball team will return four letterwinners for its 2018-2019 season, that experience running the spectrum of including this season’s three seniors all the way down to just one sophomore. That veteran crew leads a group of 34 young men hitting the hardcourt for the Indians’ boys program this season and returns from a squad that played to the Tribe’s best season record in nearly a dozen years at 14-9 overall, including a 7-5 mark in Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) play that placed the Indians in a tie for third place in the final NEIC standings.

Those returning letterwinners include the senior trio of Michael Headington, Pryce Hesse and Michael Sweeney, along with sophomore Creed Welch. Sweeney was the only one of that quartet who was consistently in the Tribe’s starting line-up, as graduation took away nine seniors from last winter’s squad.

“We lost a lot of experience and leadership from last year’s team,” Waukon boys basketball coach Jed Hemann said. “When we started our off-season workouts this year, the leadership hole was very evident. We have had a lot of guys put in a lot of time during the off-season and some leaders for our team have emerged. We are excited to get the season started.”

Despite what may be returning in the conference, and what may not be returning for the hoop Tribe, Coach Hemann says his team’s goals remain the same. “We lost some very good players, but our expectations are to still be one of the top teams in our conference,” he said. “As always, we expect to continue improving throughout the season so that we are playing our best basketball of the year when the postseason rolls around.”

The Indians were scheduled to get that quest underway Monday, November 26 at Postville before hosting Waterloo East Friday, November 30. The hoop Tribe will then hit the road the following week, playing at Sumner-Fredericksburg before opening Northeast Iowa Conference play at Oelwein Friday, December 7.

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