Fresh faces, same goals for Xavier boys’ basketball team

CEDAR RAPIDS - A new season brings new players and new roles to fill.

But the Xavier boys' basketball team still has the same goal - win a state championship.

The Saints are planning to achieve this under leadership from senior captains Bryson Bastian, Kyle Moeder and Quinn Schulte, along with junior captain Jake Beckmann.

'I have never been a captain before, but it is an honor that Coach (Ryan Luehrsmann) chose me to be one of the four captains,” Moeder said.

The Saints lost eight seniors from last year's state semifinalist team and have had to make some changes on and off the court.

'Obviously, losing the seniors was not easy. They did amazing things for this team and program,” Moeder said. 'But now we have to move forward and keep getting better every day as a team.”

Bastian said in order for the team to get better, everyone has to be willing to put in the work.

'I believe games are won from the people who do not play much,” Bastian said. 'Scout guys do not get much credit, but when it comes down to games that are won, it is because of the scout guys who prepared our team.”

The Saints are not only looking to win regular-season games, but to win their division title in the Mississippi Valley Conference.

'I think we can win games because we will have a lot of options this year,” Beckman said. 'We will have more people coming off the bench who can contribute to each game.

'I think we will be tough to stop when we are rolling.”

The Saints improved to 3-1 on Tuesday with a 68-58 win over Dubuque Hempstead. Xavier plays at Cedar Falls on Friday.