The Iowa High School Athletic Association’s boys state basketball tournament opens today, and Pella Christian will take the court in a 2A quarterfinal in the last of six contests at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Eagles, who are 15-9, are seeded fourth and will play fifth-seeded 24-1 MFL-MarMac. According to the power rankings website BC Moore, Pella Christian is ranked sixth in class 2A, the Bulldogs are 16th, and Pella Christian is a seven point favorite.

MFL-MarMac is a guard oriented team, with all five starters at 6’2″ or shorter, while three of the Eagles starters are 6’2″ or taller. Coach J.D. Boer says that their size and length could be an advantage tonight, but it isn’t necessarily the focus of their game plan.

“It doesn’t always mean that you’re going to be able to score around the rim. We saw against West Burlington (in the substate final), they probably scored more around the rim than we did. So we have to continue to do the things that we do best. We’re not just going to suddenly say that we’re a post up team, we’re going to continue to be who we are. The guard matchups are going to be really interesting, because I feel like that is a strength of our team as well.”

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 tonight at Wells Fargo Arena, but it is the final game of the night and could be a delayed start. Pregame is tentatively set for 6:45 on 92.1 KRLS, with Trevor Castle and Wynne Veenstra on the call.