Coming off a season where the Little Hawks went 10-14 and won their first playoff game since the 2020-21 season, the team has coach Bill McTaggart, who is in his second year coaching the men’s team and in his 25th year coaching basketball at City High, to build off the improvement of last season.
“This season, we are going to turn it up on the defensive end and improve on our field goal percentage from three-point range and from the free-throw line. Those were some of the things we struggled with last season,” Coach Bill McTaggart said.
The season before the hire of McTaggart, the team went 6-16 after a promising 3-0 start, also losing their first-round playoff game to Ottumwa. This season, the team is losing three of its top players from a year ago. The team’s second-best scorer and best rebounder, Jaxton Schroeder, graduated and went on to play college baseball at Kirkwood.
“I’m excited to take over more of a leadership role as a senior on the team. I didn’t really know what to expect being a senior leader on the football team, but now that I’ve learned from football, I am prepared to embrace it on the basketball court,” Jack Lampe said.
The team’s third-best rebounder and three-year varsity member, Parker Sutherland, graduated and went on to play college football at Northern Iowa. The team’s starting point guard from a year ago, Davion Luckett, who led the team in assists, moved to Texas. The top returner for the team is leading scorer Chris Watkins ‘26. Watkins averaged 14.1 points per game for the team with 338 total points on the season. The team will need some production from some of the underclassmen who didn’t play much or started on the sophomore team.
“We have good team chemistry, and I’m excited for the season to start. Our goals for this season are to win games and go to the state tournament with the squad,” Ja’Vion Robinson ‘26 said.
Other returners from the team include Iyon Harris ‘26, Ja’Vion Robinson ‘26, KP Estremera ‘26, Jack Lampe ‘26, and Jack Rogers ‘26. Harris suffered a severe injury during football this year, but will return for the basketball season. Harris played in every game for the Little Hawks last season and was a valuable asset. Robinson is second on the team in scoring for returning players and played in every game for the team last season. Estremera was third on the team in field goal percentage last season and played in the majority of the games for the team. Lampe was second on the team in assists, starting numerous games for the team. Rogers led the team in three-point percentage, shooting 38.5 percent from three last season.
“My goal for this season is to win games with my team. We have one goal in mind, and that is to make it to the state tournament, and we will do whatever it takes to get there,” Harris said.
The first practice of the season is on November 19th, and the first game of the season is on December 2nd at Ames High School. Ames finished with a record of 21-3 and earned a trip to the state tournament. Returners from Ames include lead rebounder Marach Dua, who was second in scoring for the team, and Will Thomas, a guard who started for the team last season and was a key part of Ames’ success, leading the team in assist-to-turnover ratio.
“We are going to win at least 15 games this season and make the state tournament. That is going to be the standard,” Head Coach Bill McTaggart said.
