By Brayden Dirks
On November 15th, boys from all across Iowa laced up their shoes and stepped on the hardwood to begin practice for the 2021 basketball season. The Royals have had a full week of practice so far and are preparing for upcoming scrimmages and games. Their first competition will be a scrimmage on November 22nd against West Monona in Onawa. The first game of the season will be December 3rd against Gehlen Catholic in Lemars.
Last season, the Royals boys finished with 4 wins 17 losses and were 10th out of 11 teams in the War Eagle Conference. Two of those wins came against Akron-Westfield, who finished last in the conference. One win was against Trinity Christian who finished 5-17, and the other was against Hinton who finished 10-13. Head Coach Cam Kuchel will bring back all but one player from last year’s varsity roster. Unfortunately, Cade Pepper was the second leading scorer on the team last season averaging 12.4 points per game (PPG). However, the Royals bring back the rest of the scoring, along with a few talented freshmen. Junior Derek Goth will come back as the three point threat, shooting 28% last year, the best among returners. He averaged 8.1 PPG, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists. Sophomore Center Mitchell Schnepf will bring back his prowess in the paint, as he averaged 6.1 PPG and 5.2 rebounds, the most among returners. Senior Preston Astidias will be returning from a very contributive, all-around season with 4.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 2.9 APG. Sophomore Guard Kyler Bork will look to contribute more to the team as he averaged 4.1 PPG, 1.1 RPG, and 0.5 APG. Sophomore Guard Jonah Petersen is also looking to contribute more with 1.7 PPG, 1.3 RPG, and 0.3 APG last year. Other returning players, in order of points per game, include: senior Brayden Dirks, sophomore Owen Schroeder, junior Andrew Barinsky, and junior Gunnar Johnson. Unfortunately, leading scorer Kam Steffen will not be returning this basketball season.
The MMCRU boys will face tough opponents once again this season. Gehlen Catholic, Remsen St. Mary’s, and Unity Christian are the main three, as they were top three in the War Eagle Conference last year. However, they also have many winnable games that could put them around ten wins. Five of their losses last year were within 10 points signaling many potentially close games this season. Specifically games against South O’Brien, Harris-Lake Park, and GTRA were the closest games last year. Fortunately for the Royals, these three teams lost many of their best players through graduation.
Head Coach Cam Kuchel is looking forward to the season and wants to see who will step up as a leader on his team. “I am very excited for the upcoming season. We have had two years of bringing nearly everyone back and am looking to take a big jump when it comes to success this year. Losing our guy, Kamden Steffen, is a tough blow for us with his athleticism as well as his leadership on the floor but I am looking forward to seeing how our other guys step up in his absence.” Senior leader Preston Astidias is also looking forward to the season, “I’m looking forward to growing closer with my teammates and doing my best to help lead our team and win games.” I asked a few other team members what their thoughts were on the season, and everyone was very excited to compete because they believe this year will be special compared to previous years. The MMCRU Royals boys are looking to do bigger and better this season with many winnable games.