A quarter of the way through the Little Hawkeye Conference season and if early trends hold, it seems to be a two-team race to the crown.

The No. 1 Dallas Center-Grimes Mustangs and No. 3 Pella Dutch are tied for the lead after undefeated starts to the season. The pair of 3A teams picked preseason state tournament favorites will first face off on Friday, January 8th.

Defending Little Hawkeye Champions Norwalk and Newton are tied at 2-1 in 3rd place, and both suffering blowout losses to Pella. Indianola has hung tough but stands at a tie for 5th place 1-2 with closer losses to DCG and the Dutch, and they are knotted up with a Pella Christian team that earned their first conference win of the new year over Grinnell. The Tigers and Indians are 0-3 to begin league play.

Stay tuned to KNIA/KRLS for Little Hawkeye Conference basketball all winter long.