Photo courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

After knocking off Cardinal in the opening round of Class 2A Region 6 bracket play Saturday, the Pella Christian girls basketball team travels to #13 North Mahaska for the quarterfinals tonight.

The 17-4 Warhawks present another challenge for the Eagles offense, as North Mahaska has registered 18.4 steals per game this season. Pella Christian head coach Brendan Foughty believes that seeing plenty of defensive pressure in the Little Hawkeye Conference this season will have his team prepared for the task at hand tonight.

“I think it’s extremely valuable. It’s one of the reasons why I love being in the Little Hawkeye Conference, we get challenged every single night. And so, we’ve certainly seen it and we’re prepared for it but you still got to go out and execute it and it’s going to be a hostile environment, it’s not going to be easy, but I have confidence that our team has continued to grow throughout the season and I expect nothing less Tuesday.”

This will be the fifth meeting between the Eagles and Warhawks in the Bound era, but just the second since the turn of the decade. North Mahaska defeated the Eagles 44-38 in 2022, ending a three-game Pella Christian winning streak in the series. The Eagles’ wins against the Warhawks came in 2013, 2016, and 2017.

Coverage of Pella Christian’s regional game at North Mahaska tonight can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS, beginning with pregame coverage at 6:30 pm.