The Pella Christian basketball teams welcome Oskaloosa to Eagle Lane tonight for the opening night of Little Hawkeye Conference action.

In the girls game, the Eagles are looking to open conference play with their first win of the young season while the Indians hope to remain unbeaten. Pella Christian began the year against a pair of ranked teams, falling to Class 1A #11 ranked Montezuma 56-42 and Class 2A #6 ranked Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 67-42. Oskaloosa is off to a 2-0 start this winter after defeating Pekin 45-37 and Fairfield 57-29. Eagles head coach Jordan Dyk is confident that his team can turn things around tonight but says it will take a complete game in order to do so.

“I think we’ll be able to compete and go fight. We gotta be able to stay in the game four quarters. I think that’s part of the growth process as we go. So hopefully that growth helps us play a little longer, be there in the end, give ourselves a chance Friday night to come out with a victory. So, I hope that we can really push forward and keep going.”

In the back half of the doubleheader, the Pella Christian and Oskaloosa boys squads each come into tonight’s game with an 0-1 record. The Indians opened their season with a nail biting 65-63 loss to Fairfield, while the Eagles struggled with the physicality of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in a 64-55 loss. Looking to extend Pella Christian’s five game winning streak over Oskaloosa and pick up their first win, senior guard Aiden Stoltz thinks the key to the game is simple.

“Be more physical. Boxing out and getting those rebounds, that way we can push it in transition and run on them and get some easy baskets.”

Coverage of tonight’s basketball doubleheader at Pella Christian High School begins at 6:00 p.m. on the KRLS2 stream at KNIAKRLS.com and on the Pella Christian High School YouTube channel.