They might be small in stature, but the Issaquah boys basketball team hopes to have at least one sizable advantage over the competition this season — an ability to knock down shots.

“Our perimeter players I would say are above average for a high school team,” first-year head coach Jason Griffith said. “As far as our perimeter play, we can match up with anybody in the state.”

The Eagles, whose tallest player is listed at 6-foot-4, have six athletes at 6-0 or under.

Griffith isn’t discouraged by the lack of height, however. With a significant chunk of his team coming over from the football team, they tend to make up for it with attitude.

“We don’t have a lot of size, but the size we do have plays bigger than they are,” Griffith said. “We have 6-1 kids who play 6-4, we have 6-3 kids who play 6-6.”

Leading that list of gritty players is senior Nik Landdeck. The Division I football prospect, doesn’t just bring a middle linebacker mentality to the court — he can shoot too. Landdeck hit three 3-point shots in the Eagles’ first game against Bellevue Christian and had a team-high 18 points.

Other football players who bring athleticism over the hardwood include Evan Peterson, Taylor Wyman and Eric Lemke.

Issaquah also returns its leading scorer from last season, junior Nick Price. The 6-foot-1 guard averaged a team-best 15.8 points per game for the Eagles during last season’s 6-14 campaign.

Other returning impact players include senior guards Derek Quan, Steven Rael and Uwila Symposa.

Seniors Arian Ghavidel and Sean Lancaster, along with juniors Cole Westover and Drew Danner are moving up from junior varsity. Freshman Cory Nevin is also expected to make an impact.

Along with his team’s ability to knock down shots, Griffith points to their ability to get defensive stops as a huge strength.

“We have nine or 10 guys who are very good defenders,” he said. “Our defensive rotation is really deep.”

Griffith hopes the defensive pressure translates into offense for his team — a philosophy he’s adjusting to as well.

“Being at Bellevue the last four years, we always had pretty dominant interior play,” he said.

Griffith likes the direction things are headed early in the season.

“I’ve established what my expectations are as a program and the kids have bought into it,” he said. “The school wants a great basketball program and they deserve it.”

Issaquah is 2-0 to start the season. The Eagles play next at 8 p.m., Friday at Newport.