A rare opportunity presents itself today as the Pella basketball teams welcome one of the largest schools in Iowa for doubleheader basketball action.

Ankeny makes the trek to the Tulip City in a matchup that otherwise likely wouldn’t happen, as Fairfield needed to cancel due to virtual learning protocols and the Dutch and Hawks found a mutual date, with the Class 4A school seeking additional opponents with several Des Moines metro schools out of action.

In the girls’ varsity opener, 3-2 Pella will face a 1-0 Hawks team coming away with a 71-47 victory over Mason City in their first game of the winter. Pella senior guard Faith Diers looks forward to the opportunity to test themselves outside of the already tough Little Hawkeye Conference against a new team.

“I think it’s definitely going to be a challenge, but I think our team is ready for it and no matter what the outcome is, we are going to be able to learn from it,” she says. “We’re going to have to take whatever the outcome is and take [those lessons] to when we play teams like Grinnell and Indianola again. We need to be ready mentally and just to practice the things we need to develop.”

The boys matchup following the opener features a Hawks boys team who graduated their top three scorers from their 2020 4A state championship team run, against the undefeated No. 5 in 3A Dutch boys.

Coverage begins from Pella High School on 92.1 KRLS, with Andrew Schneider and Brian Vande Lune calling the action, and the radio broadcast also featured on the Pella Dutch Live YouTube channel.