Nearly a week after beginning the new season, the Pella High girls basketball team will play their second game of the season tonight. Another skilled 3A program is part of Pella’s early season schedule, as Williamsburg comes to the Tulip City.

Lady Dutch head coach Jerod Garland says the home fans can expect to see his athletic squad try to generate opportunities with their defense.

“We hope to do a lot of pressing. We think we have the players to do that, and a lot of it is about talk,” says Garland.

“If you get beat in the frontcourt, it’s about communication and rotation. So those are the things that we need to keep working on. The girls are definitely excited about playing that style of game, and we [as coaches] are excited to turn them loose a little bit. You’ll see us pressure quite a bit.”

Garland adds that he likes playing tough teams like Ballard and Williamsburg in non-conference play to help strengthen his program for competition in the Little Hawkeye Conference, and in the postseason.

The game – which will be the first Varsity contest on the newly-replaced gym floor – starts at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Pella High.