HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM: McDermott leads Saints' basketball hopes

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By Daniel Vega, Xavier senior

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Xavier boys' basketball team got off to a hot start out of the gate, led by junior sharpshooter Adam McDermott.

McDermott was averaging almost 20 points per game per game before the Christmas break and the Saints were averaging 62 points.

'I feel like I've gotten off to a strong start,' McDermott said. 'Our team is executing plays well. My teammates are setting me up well. I credit our guys that get the starters better during practice.'

The team has balanced scoring across the bench. Junior Calvin Winker and senior Andrew Bisenius are averaging nine points per game. Senior Matt Nelson has an average of six points a game.

'I feel like we all have the ability to go off on any given night,' Bisenius said. 'We have great balance. Especially with Matt in the post and Adam on the outside ... At the end of the year our goal is to be number one.'

Bench support has been a major factor in the Saints' success.

'The success is wonderful and I hope we can keep it up,' junior Lou Hasley said. 'It's fun to be around the guys. I enjoy helping the starters get better every day at practice. It's nice to see our main guys get better, because we are pushing them hard at practice.'

The Saints fell to 4-3 on Saturday after a 49-46 loss to Davenport Assumption on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Their game tonight against Waterloo West was postponed and they host Washington on Friday at 7:30 p.m.