Don’t look now — but the defending Class 3A and Little Hawkeye Conference champions are perched atop the league standings after the first turn of the regular season round robin, and appear to be one of the favorites to make a long tournament run in February. Pella, ranked 3rd in Class 3A (10-2, 6-1), will have at worst a share of the conference lead, pending #2 in 3A DCG’s make up with Newton Monday. But after two narrow losses in December, it seems the ship has been righted and the growth of the Dutch has become evident, especially out of winter break. Pella has Class 3A’s 2nd best offense at 69.6 points per game, but as it was last spring, the biggest key to improvement and further placing themselves among 3A’s elite will be on defense (53.25 points per game allowed is 29th in 3A). While it may take a few more weeks for Knoxville-transfer Luke Keitges to settle into a rotation role and find his footing after gaining eligibility last week, the rest of Pella’s deep lineup is making mid-season strides and if progress continues at its current rate, the Dutch will be hard to take down. The target will remain large on the backs of Pella — but it seems the reigning champs are up to the task.

Head Coach Derek Schulte on the first half of the LHC season:
“We’ve made a lot of strides, and we talked early in the year that it’s about growth, and you can see that growth from the beginning of the conference schedule to now. We’re playing much better basketball on both ends of the floor, so we’re excited by that, but not satisfied. We know in this league it truly is a gauntlet–we’re all of the sudden going to go back through all of these teams again, and think of all of the close games we’ve been in, that’s all coming back to us.”

First Half Conference Stat Leaders:

Noah Allen – 16.2 points per game (5th in LHC, 11th in 3A), 38 three-pointers made (1st in LHC, 5th in 3A)
Karl Miller – 15.5 points per game (6th in LHC, 14th in 3A) 30 three-pointers made (2nd in LHC), 84.6% free-throw percentage (6th in LHC, 14th in 3A)
Parker Elder – 3.9 assists per game (4th in LHC/14th in 3A), 10 blocked shots (4th in LHC)

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Games to watch coming up:
Pella vs. Indianola – Friday 1/21 (KRLS2 Stream/Pella Dutch Live YouTube)
The biggest benefit for Pella in the second half of the conference standings is they will get to play the toughest teams of the league standings in their own city limits. But Indianola (#14 in Class 4A, 3rd place in LHC) seems to have taken their game to another gear after demolishing Norwalk Thursday, and the Indians will need to knock off the Dutch to have a shot at a conference title. Every time these two schools clash — it stays snug, as the average margin of victory since 2018 is just under four points for the victorious team, and Pella has won three in a row after dropping five consecutive to their newest–and at the moment best, conference rival. Can the Dutch contain the explosive trio of Drew Kingery, Brayden Drea, and Charlie Wilmott (averaging 40 of Indianola’s 65 points per game)? Or will it be the white-hot Dutch (winners of eight in a row) who enter the second half of the conference season with a massive victory?

Pella at Newton – Friday 1/28 (92.1 KRLS)
This could be a potential pitfall along the road to the conference title for Pella. Newton — lifted by the 10th best defense in Class 3A, is in the top 10 of the BCMoore rankings (9th, 5th in the LHC standings), and they’ve been somewhat close in all four of their losses thus far (average margin of 10 points per loss). While as of this writing the Cardinals haven’t seen DCG yet — there’s a weather-related makeup coming Monday night, their offense hasn’t quite clicked as they have hoped (57 points per game is 32nd best out of 64 3A teams). But their top trio of Jake Ingle, Brody Bauer, and Adam Mattes are a threat to break out and score enough to pull of some upsets if their defense performs as well as it has all season. Newton also looms as a strong potential Substate opponent come postseason tournament time — so this matchup may mean more than just conference positioning for both teams.

Pella vs. Dallas Center-Grimes – Friday 2/4 (92.1 KRLS/Pella Dutch Live YouTube)
The Dutch went to Grimes and knocked off then-number one in 3A DCG in their home gym. One of the favorites to win the league and the 3A title — the boys in red and white won’t take that lightly. Whether it was the level of athleticism from both teams on January 7th or the pressure of the moment, neither the Dutch or Mustangs played their best basketball in the first clash. By no means was it bad, but it felt like each squad made critical mistakes down the stretch — and it just so happened the tournament-experienced Dutch made the plays that counted. Barring something crazy, and even potential Pella Christian, Indianola, or Newton runs in the 2nd half of the season, this should be for “all the marbles” and the winner of this game is likely the Little Hawkeye Conference champion. At this point, both Pella and DCG could also be reaching their peak, and this showcase of Class 3A titans may also determine who the favorite is for the state championship in March.

Honorable mentions — Pella at Des Moines Christian, Tuesday 1/18 (92.1 KRLS), Pella at Pella Christian, Thursday 2/10 (92.1 KRLS/Pella Christian High School YouTube)