Photo courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

Despite many new faces taking the court for Pella Christian boys basketball this year, the team has found an identity on the defensive end of the floor early in the season.

Through their first three games this winter, the Eagles have held all three of their opponents under 60 points and two of them under 45 points. In addition to limiting their opponents from lighting up the scoreboard, Pella Christian has held Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, Oskaloosa, and PCM to making less than 40% of their shots while forcing just shy of 20 turnovers a game. Helping fuel the Eagles success has been their physicality, which senior Deacon Branderhorst says is nothing new for this squad.

“We practice physical, we play physical, everything we do is physical. Over these last few years, I’ve seen lots of physical play, and being able to get used to that has just been a great aspect that we’ve had over these last few years. And it’s awesome, who doesn’t love a good physical game? And when it gets scrappy, we’ve just gotta be the tougher team to be able to pull it out.”

Hear more from Deacon Branderhorst on Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page. The Eagles will look to continue their great defensive start to the season when they host Norwalk in the back half of a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader on Friday. Coverage of the Eagles doubleheader Friday night can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS, beginning with the Scooter’s Coffee Radio Pregame Show at 5:45 pm.