It was another successful season for the Lone Tree Lion boys’ basketball team (18-6 overall). Despite losing five players to graduation, including four starters, the Lions were able to rattle off 18 wins and earned a share of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North title.

Junior Jovonte Squires, the Lions’ lone returning starter from last year, raised the level of his game in his third season of varsity basketball. His 374 points were 92 points more than anyone else on the team, and 55 more points than he scored his sophomore season. For a second straight season, Squires led the SEISC North in assists. He dished out 180 dimes, 36 more than anyone else in the league, and 37 more than he accounted for last year. Finally, his 96 steals are 52 more than anyone else on the team, and are three more than he swiped last season.

Four of the Lions’ six losses came against two teams. The Pekin Panthers swept the season series versus Lions, winning 66-61 in Lone Tree on January 8 and 60-53 in Packwood on February 9. The Danville Bears beat the Lions twice in a two week time frame. The Bears initially beat the Lions, 78-50, in the SEISC shootout game on February 12. Their final meeting came in the district championship game last Thursday, where Danville ended Lone Tree’s season, 67-56.

This marks the fifth straight season where Lone Tree’s boys basketball team has won 16 or more games, and have collected 110 victories over the last six seasons.

The Lions will lose Jared Hudson to graduation, and they are scheduled to return all five starters from their postseason run including Squires, Michael Schmidt, Niko Gosnell, Trey Pierson, and Ross Swinton.