A lot will be unknown between first round foes at the Class 2A state boys basketball tournament as Pella Christian takes on MFL MarMac.

The group from far northeast Iowa incorporates kids from Clayton and Allamakee counties and the communities of Monona, McGregor, Farmersburg, Luana, and Marquette — and this will be their first-ever matchup with the Eagles.

Seeded 5th in Class 2A, the Bulldogs are making their 6th-ever state tournament appearance and have racked up a ton of points and wins along the way, coming in with a 24-1 record and averaging 75.7 points per game, 3rd best among those schools.

Sophomore Zach Driscoll leads the charge for MFL-MarMac with 20.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, five assists, and 4.2 steals per contest. He is the top player on a squad with four players scoring in double-figures night-to-night, according to Head Coach J.D. Boer. They are a guard heavy unit, as their top six in the rotation are 6-1 or 6-2, and a group that loves to press, averaging over 17 steals per contest.

If there’s one advantage Pella Christian has coming in, it’s strength of schedule — and according to BCMoore, the Eagles have played the toughest slate of any Class 2A team, while the Bulldogs have played the 87th toughest out of 96 teams. Boer stresses that any team in the final eight is dangerous at the state tournament, and MFL knocked off a pair of strong teams in Dyersville Beckman Catholic and previously undefeated Lake Mills on their way to Wells Fargo Arena.

“People can say, well maybe they haven’t played a great schedule or great teams — if you’re beating teams by an average of 30 points, I don’t care who you’re playing, you’re doing something right,” Boer says.

Pella Christian’s 17th-ever state tournament appearance begins at 7:15 p.m. Monday when they take on MFL MarMac. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on 92.1 KRLS.