The Pella Christian girls basketball team opened the postseason Saturday night with a 51-16 win over Colfax-Mingo as heard live on 92.1 KRLS.

The Eagles exploded out of the starting blocks and led 25-5 at the end of the first quarter, built a 39-12 halftime lead, then outscored the Tigerhawks 12-0 in the third quarter to put the running clock into effect.

“We talked about how important it is that the defense leads the way for us and sets the tone”, said head coach Brendan Foughty. “I felt like we did a really good job of that in the first quarter, kind of just jumping out and putting some pressure on them. We really forced the issue and got out in transition to get some easy buckets. I thought our kids did a great job of that mission early on.”

Addie Van Arendonk scored nine points in the first quarter and finished the game with 15 points and seven rebounds. Faith Kacmarynski added 12 points.

The Eagles are now 8-14 on the season and will take the short road trip to New Sharon on Tuesday night to take on North Mahaska. The Warhawks ended Pella Christian’s season in the same round a year ago.