Photo Courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

The last of the winter sports teams on Eagle Lane kicks off their season tonight, as both the Pella Christian boys and girls basketball teams have their home opener tonight against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont.

The Eagles’ girls squad opened their season last week at Class 1A #11 ranked Montezuma and fell 56-42. Meanwhile, the Class 2A #6 ranked Rockets are 2-0 with wins over Lynnville-Sully and Pleasantville. The Pella Christian and Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont girls squads are no strangers on the court, as tonight marks the 21st meeting in the last 15 years. The Eagles have dominated the matchup winning 16 of the 21 games, but the Rockets won last year’s contest 83-61 to snap P.C.’s seven game winning streak in the series. 

The new look Pella Christian boys team begins their season with a tough test against an E-B-F squad that is looking for a measure of payback. Last season, the Eagles defeated the Rockets in the regular season 69-50 and then ended their season in the Substate Semifinals with a 76-35 victory. While the Eagles only return one starter from last year’s team, Eddyville returns four of their five starters and 10 of their 12 players that played in those games last winter. Pella Christian head coach J.D. Boer knows that remaining unbeaten against the Rockets will be difficult, but says he’s excited for the challenge.

“We play some of the best 2A teams in the state and I think Eddyville certainly is shaping up to be one of those. A team that won twenty games last year. You know, they they lose their big guy in Davis but returned pretty much everybody else. They’re big, they’re bigger than us. You know, this is the first time I’ve probably coached a team that’s smaller than the other team in my three years here, but they’re big, they’re athletic. They just got guys who who know how to win. They won a lot of games, so what a what a great challenge for us.”

Pella Christian’s home opening doubleheader can be heard live on the KRLS2 stream at KNIAKRLS.com and viewed on the Pella Christian High School YouTube Channel beginning with pregame coverage at 6 p.m.