It’s “Big Monday” for the Pella High boys’ basketball team when they make the road trip to Des Moines to take on Valley in a match-up of the No. 1 team in Class 3A and the No. 2 squad in Class 4A. The two schools are a combined 13 – 0 on the year, and their stats are very similar, though the Valley Tigers have an edge from beyond the arc. West Des Moines is making nearly 50% of their shots from three-point range, compared to Pella’s 31%, and both teams have had almost the same amount of attempts. Coach Mark Core says it will for sure be an uphill battle as the Valley Tigers are good just about anywhere on the court.

“We’re going to have to identify and guard their shooters,” Core says. “The bad news is, they’re also very good inside. They’ve got a powerful inside game. Really, if you were to write out a job description of what a point guard ought to do, or what a shooting guard ought to do, or what a post player ought to do, they have prototype players at every position. We’re going to have to be extremely on our toes defensively not to let them warm up. Offensively, we’re just going to have to cut and move to create shot opportunities, because they really can close out and guard people on the perimeter and then they’ve got the big guys inside that can block shots. We’re going to have to be both offensively and defensively at the top of our game.”

The JV team will play first at 6:00 p.m., with the varsity boys to follow for the main event at 7:45 at Valley High School.

Tags: