For the 2018 portion of the season, the Pella and Pella Christian basketball teams primary source of offense came from beyond the three-point circle.

The Little Dutch rank 1st in Class 3A with 80 treys made, while the Eagles rate 12th in 2A with their 68.

For Pella, those deep shots came in their biggest wins of the year — 14 in the blowout of Norwalk, and 12 against Oskaloosa. And while the three-ball will remain a key to the success of the boys in green this season, Head Coach Derek Schulte says they need to find additional ways to score when they cool down from beyond the arc.

“I think we’ve seen great growth offensively, and we want to continue to see that, and I think we have some room for some small areas for improvement,” Schulte says. “We want to become a versatile team, and while we believe we are, but we don’t want to be a team that relies too much on the three-point shot.”

The effects of slowed shooting showed for Pella Christian as the winter break approached — 56 of their 68 made threes came in the first five games of the schedule, when they went 3-2, including a near comeback against Pella and close loss to Norwalk. The Eagles were just 12 of 50 from three in their last three contests of the month. Head Coach Larry Hessing is using the break to add new wrinkles to the offense, which he hopes sparks some wins out of the gate.

“I think our offense got a little bit predictable,” he says. “It just needed new life so we’re working on trying to get our guys to see all of the actions that are available to them.”

Both teams return to the hardwood Friday night at home — with the Eagles hosting Newton, and the Dutch welcoming DCG.

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