The Class 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament got underway yesterday afternoon in Des Moines, and the opening games have likely been a little hard to stomach for the Pella boys basketball team.  

It seems hard to believe that it was just over a week ago that the Little Dutch were narrowly edged out in the game’s final seconds by a very talented Mount Pleasant squad 43-42 in the Substate finals.  Pella Head Coach Mark Core said while his team wishes their season was still going, they have a great deal of respect for the Panthers.

“We hated to see it [the season] end, because I have a feeling we could have made some noise at State,” said Core.  “I think we’re probably going to see Mount Pleasant play three games up there.  We wish it was us, but we’ve got to congratulate them.  They got the job done and we’ve got to tip our hat to them.”

Mount Pleasant faces MOC-Floyd Valley at noon todayin the State Quarterfinals.  The Pella boys finished the season with an overall mark of 19-4.