Senior Landon Paris will guide the LCA Cougars into the 2019-20 season. (File photo by Mike Deak)

WINONA LAKE – Some programs are hit harder with graduation than others. Lakeland Christian Academy will be one of those programs entering the 2019-20 boys basketball season.

Two years ago, a Hoosier Plains Conference championship team fielded a 1,000-point scorer in Josh McDaniel and a ton of organized talent. Last year, the emergence of Jake Harmon and yet another Twombly brother, Landon, set the tone with another HPC title and Harmon set a handful of shooting records along the way.

With all of that in the rearview mirror, LCA brings a very inexperienced team to the fold for this year’s chapter, and hopes time will mend the holes left from graduation.

“I have had a Twombly or a Harmon on every team that I’ve had in my first five years here,” stated LCA head coach Chris Hohm. “It’s a little strange to not have either one anymore. We’ve had some good leadership and intensity from the Twombly family over the years, and now it’s time for others to step up.

“Our team is young and inexperienced, but we do have a few guys who have been around for a while who I will look to for leadership.”

Leadership expectations will primarily fall upon the two seniors in Landon Paris and Matt Helton, Paris playing in all 24 of LCA’s games last year and Helton in all but one. The two, however, scored just a combined 5.9 points per night in utility roles for the Cougars. Cam Shepherd is the only other major returner, the junior chipping in just over three points and two rebounds a contest last season.

“Landon Paris is our most experienced returner, and he was a captain for the soccer team this fall.  He has good leadership capabilities. Matthew Helton leads by example with how hard he comes to work each day. A few other guys have started to emerge as leaders as well, but we will see as the season goes on who continues to step up and be vocal leaders and who will lead by example.

“Cameron Shepherd played a smaller role for us last year, but he has a knack for scoring and being in the right place at the right time. He also is a good defensive player for us.”

Hohm points to the varsity additions of junior Brayden Lane, sophomores Peter Koller and Silas Gagnon as well as freshman Seth Martin, the latter two could impact right away at the varsity level. Gagnon is a move-in from Arizona with a post game LCA hasn’t really had under Hohm.

“He is a nice post player with some back to the basket skills,” Hohm said of Gagnon. “We have not had a lot of that over my five years here, so we are excited to add that piece into our offense.”

LCA opens play at home Tuesday against Caston.