Indees return leading scorers, looking for improvement

With three of their four leading scorers returning to the lineup, the Independence boys basketball team is hoping to improve on last season’s seven wins.

The seven wins were an improvement from the year before largely because Chris Killian nearly doubled his scoring average from his sophomore to junior years. Killian also led the team in rebounding and assists. Now as Killian enters his senior season, coach Brad Wesely is hoping for improvement and thinks his team can contend for the Small Dairyland Conference title.

“We think we should be competitive in the conference,” Wesely said.

While the Indees lost second-leading scorer Creed Brenner, they’re hoping Tyler Kingsbury and Ben Pyka can more than fill the void. Both saw extensive time as freshmen as Kingsbury scored 10.4 points per game and Pyka added 5.6 last year.

Wesely also singled out John Roskos as being an important part of the team because of his size and presence in the middle. Roskos was third on the team in rebounding, behind Killian and Pyka.

The Indees second-year coach said he also expects Alex Pfaff and Wyatt Kuerschner to fill significant roles for his team this year. The latter is currently recovering from an injury suffered during the football season.

As the young players gained experience, the Indees put together a competitive second half of the season last year. While they weren’t able to come away with many wins, the Indees were able to keep many of their games close before struggling down the stretch.

As the players grow, the Indees hope they’ll be able to flip the switch and win the close games.