A 6-0 start for the Pella boys basketball team has pushed them up in most state polls, and has the Dutch in prime position to attain preseason goals.

The Pella Dutch boys enter winter break in a tie for 1st for leadership in the Little Hawkeye Conference, and currently stand as the No. 3 ranked team in Class 3A in both the Iowa Associated Press and BCMoore Power Rankings. They are knotted up record-wise with No. 1 in the AP Poll Dallas Center-Grimes, who also enter winter break with an undefeated 6-0 mark.

Pella has the 4th ranked offense in Class 3A and 1st in three point shots made per game, good for a 2nd best in 3A 41.8% conversion percentage — which has been a hallmark of the program for over two and a half decades. But this winter’s Dutch D has been one of the best the team has had in some time, currently ranked 13th out of the 64 teams in their class in points allowed per game at 48.3. The last time Pella’s defense finished in the top 15 in points allowed was in 2014-15, which was the first of three consecutive state tournament appearances.

While the Dutch boys will avoid overlooking long time foe Oskaloosa out of the gates on January 5th–who have struggled following the graduation of now Iowa State Cyclone Xavier Foster with a 1-5 start, the biggest test of the season to date looms large on Friday, January 8th, as No. 1 DCG comes to town in the first of two matchups that will almost certainly determine the Little Hawkeye Conference champion and might even be a pair of previews to a potential 3rd meeting at Wells Fargo Arena in March.

Stay tuned to 92.1 KRLS, the home and away voice of Pella athletics, for continuing coverage of winter sports action.