Pella opens its defense of the Class 3A state championship at home this evening against Carlisle as the substate playoffs begin.

The #5 in 3A Dutch (15-6 overall, 3rd in Little Hawkeye Conference) are at home to take on the Wildcats (2-19, 9th in Raccoon River Conference), who come from the deep Raccoon River Conference that represents half of 3A Substate 7. Carlisle has played the 6th toughest schedule of 3A teams, according to the BCMoore Power Rankings, and that alone makes Pella Head Coach Derek Schulte believe the road team will be better than a typical 7 seed in a substate bracket.

“What we will be talking to our guys about is throw out the record, because their record is not going to be impressive, but you look at some of their scores and how they finished the year, they have athletes, they’re tough, and they’re going to play hard and be physical, and they’ve competed well in the Raccoon River–their league late in the year,” he says.

Carlisle is paced by Ryan Petersen, a junior averaging 9.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Coverage of Pella postseason basketball begins at 6:30 this evening on 92.1 KRLS and the Pella Dutch Live YouTube channel.