The road to the Well hits its final destination Monday in the Class 3A Substate finals as the No. 2 Pella Dutch aim to make back-to-back trips to the boys state tournament against conference foe Grinnell.

Pella is rolling into the round of 16 in the Class 3A playoffs after defending their home court with ease; knocking off Centerville 100-45 and Newton 73-44 in the first two rounds, while Grinnell enters the matchup as road warriors, knocking off No. 3 seeded Clear Creek-Amana 69-58 and winning in the last second against Washington 49-48.

The teams have met twice this winter, with Pella sweeping the conference games against the Tigers 54-39 and 76-46, but the key difference will be the return of Owen Coffman, who has dealt with a variety of injuries this winter. Coffman hit the game winning free throws against the Demons on Thursday, and Head Coach Derek Schulte says they expect a different style for Grinnell with him back on the floor.

The Dutch have dominated the all-time series with Grinnell by a 25-7 matchup in the Quikstats/Varsity Bound era, including 15 in a row dating back to December of 2014, and have won the last two playoff matchups with the Tigers as well, including a 77-60 win in the Substate semifinals in 2020 and the Substate finals in 2017 55-53.

Pella will seek an 18th-ever trip to the state tournament, while the Tigers seek their 17th appearance in the final eight. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on 92.1 KRLS tonight with Trevor Castle and Phil Hemming.

Substate Finals (BC-Moore Rankings):
No. 6 Sergeant Bluff Luton vs. No. 7 Carroll – Substate 1
No. 14 Clear Lake vs. No. 20 Humboldt – Substate 2
No. 3 Western Dubuque vs. No. 17 Decorah – Substate 3
No. 10 Monticello vs. No. 11 Solon – Substate 4
No. 8 Assumption vs. No. 9 Mount Vernon – Substate 5
No. 2 Pella vs. No. 25 Grinnell – Substate 6
No. 1 Ballard vs. No. 21 Bondurant-Farrar – Substate 7
No. 4 DCG vs. No. 38 Atlantic – Substate 8