Tysen DeVries’ corner three-pointer as time expired was just off the mark, and Pella Christian’s bid for a spot in the class 2A boys basketball championship game came up short as the Eagles lost to top-seeded Central Lyon 56-55 Thursday morning in a semifinal thriller heard live on 92.1 KRLS.

Pella Christian made five first half three-pointers and used a tenacious defensive effort to build a 26-21 lead. Then Central Lyon unleashed a full-court press early in the third quarter and scored 17 of the first 22 points to take their largest lead of the game, 38-31. But the Eagles had an answer, outscoring the Lions 11-0 over the final 3:53 of the quarter to take a four point advantage into the final frame.

It was back and forth from there, with Central Lyon missing two free throws in the final 15 seconds to give Pella Christian the chance at a game winning shot. While that came up empty, Eagles coach J.D. Boer was proud of his teams’ effort and says that’s often how games are decided.

“We won a couple of these games to get here. When you look at the Wilton game and the West Burlington game, we were fortunate enough to be on top at the end. Tonight was just like that, but we weren’t able to quite make the play to go win it. Of course there’s more than one, but there were a couple things that didn’t quite go our way.”

Dane Geetings led Pella Christian with 20 points and Tysen DeVries added 11 points and five assists. The Eagles season ends with a record of 16-10.

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