As the No. 2 ranked team in Class 3A coming into the 2020 postseason, the boys in green and white from Pella High School are aiming to make this playoff run a special one, and that journey begins tonight in the opening round.

Pella comes in as the No. 1 seed in Class 3A Substate 6, and won’t have to go far if they keep winning — the Dutch will have home court advantage if they advance past the opening game, and then would be in Knoxville for the substate finale.

But before Pella can get to that point, they will have to take on a unique challenge from an eight seed, as Centerville comes to town in the postseason opener. Head Coach Derek Schulte says with the coaches meetings determining the seeding, it’s become more commonplace for teams with winning records such as the 12-9 Big Reds to be a lower seeded opponent — but Schulte believes they are more dangerous because of that reason.

“We play a team we are not as familiar with, and a team that has won 12 games this year, so a unique eight-seed,” he says. “So one, our focus as always been on ourselves, making sure we take care of business with what we need to do, and two, figuring out what’s their top things that they do, and try to make that really difficult for them.”

Pella enters the 2020 postseason with the highest scoring team in Class 3A, averaging 77.5 points per game, and a 16-5 overall record after a 4th place finish in the Little Hawkeye Conference.

Centerville finished in a three-way tie for second in the South Central Conference, and hasn’t played a game since February 11th, when they took on Putnam County out of Missouri.

Coverage of the Pella boys basketball playoff opener will start at 7:30 p.m. Monday on 92.1 KRLS, with the opening tip at approximately 8 p.m. — Pella will follow a game played between Knoxville and Grinnell at Pella High, which can be heard live on 95.3 KNIA.