A late fourth quarter charge was just enough for the #7 in 2A Pella Christian boys basketball team to keep their impressive late-season winning streak alive in a 53-52 thriller over Van Meter, as heard on the KRLS2 stream Saturday.

Coming off of completing the season sweep over their crosstown Dutch rivals, the Eagles didn’t look like they missed a beat in the first 11 minutes against the Bulldogs, building a 13-point advantage — paced by 16 first quarter-points from Tysen DeVries.

But Van Meter didn’t go quietly — and in fact, the ‘Dogs largely took control of the festivities from there, wiping that P.C. lead down to four at the half, which then built into their own four-point margin halfway through the third.

Pella Christian battled through an uneven shooting performance to grab the scoreboard back by one with 2:40 left, and the teams would trade back-and-forth in the final few minutes. The Eagles hung on despite turning the ball over with 13 seconds remaining at the eventual final score, as Van Meter missed the final go-ahead shot with time expiring.

DeVries finished with 27 points to carry his squad on the scoring side. Pella Christian improves to 15-4 overall and has now won six games in a row since January 25. They’ll face one final major test before the playoffs on Tuesday as they travel to Dallas Center-Grimes (KRLS), but before that, the Eagles will learn their postseason road Monday when the IHSAA releases the Class 2A substate brackets.