For the third time in nearly a year-and-a-half, Pella High and Cedar Rapids Xavier get to clash on the big stage. Tonight, it’s the Class 3A state boys’ basketball tournament inside of Wells Fargo Arena with a berth in the state championship game going to the winner. The Little Dutch knocked off the Saints in the 2014 state football semis, but were then ousted by the basketball team in the first round of last year’s state hoops tourney. The Saints, on paper, appear to be a deeper team than they were a year ago, despite losing a good chunk of their scoring to graduation. Senior Will Warner says Xavier returns some state tournament experience and a strong supporting cast they’ll have to watch for.
“Mitch Burger, he played for them last year, and played against us, and he’s really an all-around great athlete,” Warner explains. “He’s a great shooter, can really get to the hoop. They have a big guy down low, his name is Max Techau, and he’s good at getting the boards. Their supporting cast is also great, they’ve got good shooters outside and are really solid defensively, so we’ve really got to make sure we’re watching our film and stepping it up for our game (tonight).”
Depth was the edge Pella High had against Perry in their 94 – 54 win on Tuesday in the quarterfinals, and Coach Jim Dingeman says you can’t go to sleep against any player on their roster.
“Everybody on this team is capable,” Dingeman said after the win over the Bluejays. “We had Ben (Tysseling), and Jordan (Weppler), and Julian (Vierson), and Kobe (Diers) in the game at the end. Donnie (Holterhaus) was incredible, and we had them in there against Perry’s starting five, and they extended our lead. It’s just amazing.”
The winner tonight will play either Dubuque Wahlert or Chariton in the Class 3A championship game on Saturday night. You can hear the play-by-play of this evening’s festivities live on 92.1 KRLS, KNIAKRLS.com, and on our free mobile app. Cory Houser and Mike Buchheit return courtside for the call, starting with the pre-game show at 7:45 p.m. and tip-off scheduled for 8:15.