One game made the difference last year for the boys basketball team. After beating Waukee at home earlier in the year, the Lynx could not pull it off at Waukee in sub-state finals, losing 48-39.
“We just have to keep practicing hard, trusting coaches and teammates, never taking a day off,” junior guard Braylin DeJager said.
The Lynx had to play on the road for their 4A substate final, a new rule change from three years ago, changing host sites from neutral site to the higher ranked team hosting. This has led head coach Jason Isaacson to change his focus from appealing to the stats, to appealing to rankers from Des Moines in recent years.
“I’ve never been a rankings person. It’s just someone else’s opinion,” Isaacson said. “But now all of a sudden, it’s very important. We have to keep track of it. We’ve challenged ourselves all offseason.”
The Lynx also lost Creighton Bracker, who led the team in points and rebounds per game, averaged a double-double, and even had a game with an impressive 20 point, 20 rebound performance against Bellevue West, a state qualifying team in Nebraska.
“We have already brought up Creighton’s name in the first few days of practice,” Isaacson said. “So just challenging guys to get better at it everyday, to really attack it and prioritize it, because you know if you don’t rebound it’s going to be hard to win tough games.”
Although the players will miss Bracker’s presence, they look to utilize a different playing style this upcoming season.
“Instead of relying on the post, we will have to drive and shoot a lot more this year, whatever really gets us open and plays to our style,” DeJager said.
The Lynx kept some key figures on the roster though, like seniors Easton Klement, Jake Babbitt and Grant Hughey, and juniors Jeremiah Slaughter and Braylin DeJager. The Lynx also added outside of school from the past year by bringing in senior Ty Paulson and sophomores Kalan Steinbeck and CJ Mosala, while inheriting from inside the program as well.
The Lynx will begin their season on Friday, Dec 5 at Sioux City West. The boys squad will then come home for their first game against the Sergeant Bluff-Luton Warriors Tuesday, Dec 9.
“AL is the best team in the city,” senior guard Easton Klement said. “We play as a team and replay the right way. Be in the crowd, you might as well show up, you got nothing else to do.”
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