In the Class 2A District Basketball finals, it was #6 in 2A Pella Christian that took off like a rocket and never came out of orbit as they controlled Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 76-35, as heard live on 92.1 KRLS Tuesday in Oskaloosa.

The Eagles dominated all phases of the game and never let up against the South Central Conference champions, with balanced scoring and control of the glass and a huge edge in the turnover margin, winning both (31-to-21 rebounds, 17-to-8 turnovers) by more than 10 each. The Eagles took an early 12 point lead to end the 1st quarter and didn’t let the Rockets get closer than eight in the remainder of the 1st half.

Pella Christian Head Coach JD Boer believes his team played their most complete 32 minutes against a strong foe, and he’s hopeful that level of play can continue to push this tournament run further.

“Finding rhythm is important and this game had good pace to it — which is good for us, we like playing with some pace, and rebounding helps us in that regard,” he says. “Sometimes you don’t recognize that as a causal fan, but when we can rebound on the defensive end, it allows us to get running and allows us to find some rhythm and allows us to move the ball around crisper.”

Levi Schelhaas led the way with 18 points, Eric Mulder tallied a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double, and Niko Schirz added 12 points and nine rebounds.

The Eagles improve to 17-6 overall and have a rematch to go to the state tournament Saturday as the #6 Eagles take on #7 Des Moines Christian at Pleasantville in the Class 2A Substate Finals, which will be live on 92.1 KRLS. Hear from Eagles Senior EJ Fransman on this week’s KNIA/KRLS Radio Sports Page, which airs today at 6 p.m. on KNIA/KRLS.