At the boy’s state basketball tournament Pella Christian outscored Davenport Assumption 24-13 in the third quarter of play to take command as the Eagles rolled to a 69-53 win in the class 2A opener.
Pella Christian led by two at the end of a hard fought opening half the opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run. Pella Christian guard Cliff Warner says they needed to take better shots. He finished with a game high 17 points. Defending champ and fifth rated Western Christian used a half court trap to push the tempo in an 83-40 win over West Marshall.
Western coach Jim Eekhoff wanted his team to be aggressive at the outset. Eekhoff says teams can sometimes be tentative and awed by the surroundings, but he says he was pleased with how hard his team played. Western Christian improves to 23-3 and West Marshall closes the season at 20-4.
Cedar Falls N-U High limited Bedford to just one second quarter point and the Panthers went on to a 58-38 victory in a class 1A quarterfinal round game. Nick Ellerbroek led N-U High with 19 points and says the Panther’s 17-8 record coming into the tournament was misleading. He says they play a tough schedule all year and felt like people were overlooking them.
H-L-V of Victor coach Zach Tremmel says his team’s experience showed in the opening half of their class 1A victory over Guthrie Center. The Warriors burst out to a 34-11 halftime lead then held off a second half rally by the Tigers for a 52-45 win. Tremmel says his team came out and played like juniors and seniors.
Bryce Halsey led the Warriors with 16 points as they improve to 25-1. Dustin Clark had 20 points to lead Guthrie Center which ends the season 18-7.