The 2020 Iowa High School Boys State Tournament begins this week, and a frequent visitor is making its first trip back since 2017.

Pella Christian is entering the school’s 15th ever trip to the round of eight, all coming since the 1990 season. The traditional Class 2A powerhouse is the No. 7 seed in this year’s bracket, and opens against No. 2 Treynor, a program making their 16th ever appearance and a team that has won 17 games in a row.

Head Coach Larry Hessing says in order for the program to get back to the finals– as it has been eight other times, the Eagles will have to replicate the successful techniques and effort seen in the wins against the likes of 3A state qualifiers Pella and Norwalk.

“We always like to start on the defensive end–so obviously we have to defend the interior and against a couple of [Treynor’s] guards,” he says. “Then offensively it’s kind of like usual — are we going to take care of the basketball? Are we going to be patient enough to get some inside touches? Are we going to take quick shots, which leads to runouts, which they don’t mind doing?”

“That’s kind of the key — we have to play good defense and be ourselves and take care of the basketball to execute on the offensive end.”

Pella Christian vs. Treynor will be the second game played Monday in the Class 2A round of games. Coverage from Wells Fargo Arena will begin at 6 p.m. on 92.1 KRLS, kniakrls.com, and the KRLS mobile app, as Andrew Schneider and Wynne Veenstra are on the call for the entire Eagles tournament run.