The 2021-22 Eagles (9-3 overall, 4-3 in LHC) feel as if they are on the cusp of something more, and all of their preseason goals remain firmly ahead of them at the halfway mark of Little Hawkeye Conference action. The sixth ranked team currently in Class 2A and 4th in the conference standings, Pella Christian’s three losses have come to #14 in 4A Indianola, #3 in 3A Pella, and #2 in 3A Dallas Center-Grimes — and a few plays here and there in those games late may have led to the different outcome. Their size has come as advertised as a matchup problem — their 32.1 rebounds per game leads the Little Hawkeye at the midway point, but their defensive improvement has also shown, leading the league with nine steals per contest. In a conference race that appears to be leaning towards the Dutch and Mustangs — the Eagles remain a dark horse to grab the title themselves, but the boys from Eagle Lane would need to likely need to run the table and have some help from a conference that appears to be every bit as deep as predicted in November.
An unusual stat for the Eagles is that they’ve “only” played the 14th toughest schedule in 2A so far — typically, P.C. lands in the top five on BcMoore annually in that category of their best-in-Iowa power rankings. But the road ahead for the Eagles is daunting, and that schedule mark will only improve before season’s end, especially with Top 10 in 2A teams Des Moines Christian and Van Meter looming as their “breaks” from conference action. By this Friday, the hope is that Pella Christian draws a favorable substate and district in the near term with their substantially improved win-loss record and difficulty of league schedule, but regardless, Pella Christian appears to have the potential to be one of a handful of favorites to be hoisting a Class 2A state qualifying banner and trophy at season’s end.
Head Coach J.D. Boer on the first half of the LHC season:
“I like my guys, I really do, and we’ve really shown some growth over the year. I love our balance right now, and we’re in a good spot, and I’m really excited for the 2nd half of the conference schedule and we have some really nice non-conference games coming up here. In the next month, we’re going to learn a lot about our team, but I like where we’re at and eventually we are going to win some of these [big time] games.”
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First Half Conference Stat Leaders:
Eric Mulder – 68.2% field goal pct (1st in LHC, 3rd in 2A), 8.2 rebounds per game (2nd in LHC), 20 blocked shots (2nd in LHC, 8th in 2A)
Levi Schelhaas – 12.5 points per game (9th in LHC), 3.4 assists per game (5th in LHC), 21 three-pointers made (8th in LHC), 80% free throws made (8th in LHC)
Aiden Stoltz – 27 three pointers made (5th in LHC), 45.8% three-pointers made (3rd in LHC with 30+ attempts)
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Games to watch coming up:
Pella Christian vs. Des Moines Christian – Monday 1/24 (92.1 KRLS)
It’s a rare opportunity to get to see a state tournament venue before the final eight teams advance in their respective classes — and very well could be featuring two state-tournament worthy teams as long-time rivals Pella Christian and Des Moines Christian get to play each other at Wells Fargo Arena. Neither program is a stranger to the state tournament venue; the Eagles have qualified 15 times since 1990 and most recently in 2020, and Des Moines Christian has been to state in 2019 and 2021 under head coach Jason Van Mersbergen — a Pella Christian graduate. The Lions are #8 in Class 2A, and while their West Central Conference opponents offer far less resistance than the Eagles regular bouts in the Little Hawkeye Conference, they only carry two losses near the season’s midway mark — a one-point thriller with #2 in 3A Dallas Center-Grimes, and a nine-point loss to #9 in 2A Van Meter in Urbandale. Des Moines Christian had only 2021 leading scorer Adam Witty (senior, 22.4 points/8.2 rebounds per game in ’21-22) and rotation player Landon Craven (9.8 points/5.5 rebounds per game in ’21-22) return from their state tournament team a year ago, but they have seemingly reloaded. This rivalry that has the Eagles with a 9-6 edge in the Varsity Bound/Quikstats era has seen the two Christian schools trade wins since 2017 — Des Moines Christian narrowly edged the Eagles by three points most recently in January 2021. Both Pella Christian and the Lions are out to prove they are gearing up for deep runs into March — and the victorious team will leave The Well with hopes of returning and a ton of confidence.
Pella Christian at Dallas Center-Grimes – Tuesday 2/1 (92.1 KRLS)
There’s no doubt the second half of the conference season will be full of thrilling games for all eight league teams in the final four weeks of the regular season. And of the three losses the Eagles can avenge, we found their trip to Grimes to be the most intriguing. While the Pella and Indianola games got away from P.C. in the 4th quarter with a few key plays — the way things ended with the Mustangs at home was different. After tying the game at 34-all with less than a minute remaining in the 3rd quarter, Pella Christian quite literally threw the game away, and several careless, unforced turnovers played right into the then-No. 1 team’s hands. DCG did not turn the ball over once in the 2nd half, and outscored Pella Christian 28-6 in the final nine minutes. The Eagles will likely be motivated to prove yet again that they belong on the same floor as DCG — and aim to show that the first three quarters against the Mustangs in the opening matchup were not a fluke.
Pella Christian vs. Van Meter – Saturday 2/5 (92.1 KRLS/Pella Christian High School YouTube)
One week before the Class 2A playoffs begin, two contenders will lock horns on Eagle Lane on a Saturday afternoon. The Eagles will hope to avoid a Homecoming hangover — they’ll celebrating their returning alumni less than 24 hours before this matchup with the Bulldogs, but it’s hard to imagine the Eagles won’t be missing what’s at stake. While postseason positioning and brackets will be locked up at that point, the winner of this Class 2A non-conference battle gains a lot of steam heading into their respective substate bracket. Similar to the Des Moines Christian rivalry, the Eagles and Bulldogs have traded wins with each other since 2017 — and the most recent game came on a snowy afternoon in Van Meter, which turned into an overtime 59-53 win for P.C. after a back-and-forth 4th quarter. The majority of those two rosters return from the 2021 teams — and should make for an exciting Saturday afternoon of basketball on Eagle Lane.
Honorable mentions — Pella Christian vs. Indianola ( – Pella vs. Pella Christian – Friday 2/10 (92.1 KRLS/Pella Christian High School YouTube)