It’s down to the final four in the Class 2A boys’ state basketball tournament, and the underdog Eagles are hoping to topple another giant this afternoon.

Pella Christian is set to face Cascade in the semifinals round. The Cougars blew out Osage 60-29 in the quarterfinals, immediately preceding the Eagles’ upset of then-undefeated Dike-New Hartford Monday night.

Head Coach Larry Hessing says it’s not a very deep team hailing from Western Dubuque, but they put a talented six players on the floor.

“The first piece of logic is if they only play six guys, then you want to run them up and down the floor and wear them out, but that’s easier said than done,” Hessing tells KNIA/KRLS. “They’ve been playing six guys all year long, so they know how to get back down the floor and in their zone.”

He says they can’t afford to give up easily against senior-leader Devin Green and the zone-heavy defense, either.

“We’ve got some experience against taller guys, particularly last year in the Little Hawkeye Conference, and so you have to be willing to take it at him a little bit,” Hessing says.

The 6-7 center is shooting 62% from the field and grabbing eight boards per game.

Pella Christian is hoping to make it to the tournament finals for the 8th time in school history to pursue their fourth-ever title; Cascade is hoping to appear on championship Friday for the first time in program history.

Our coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. on 92.1 KRLS, kniakrls.com, and the free mobile app, with game time at 2:00. Andrew Schneider and Wynne Veenstra return to Wells Fargo Arena for play-by-play.

Tags: , , ,