Late Free Throws Lift Pella Christian Boys Basketball to Win at Des Moines Christian

Two late free throws and a heads up play by Trey Steinkamp lifted the Pella Christian boys basketball team to a 53-52 victory at Des Moines Christian heard live on 92.1 KRLS Monday night. 

The two teams were tied at 13-13 at the end of the first quarter, before Pella Christian took a 29-24 lead into the locker room and Des Moines Christian came back to reclaim a 39-38 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Lions opened the final period with a 8-5 run to pull ahead 47-43, but a bucket and a foul drawn by Devan Runner at the 5:05 mark of the quarter kick-started a 7-0 Eagles run over the next three minutes of play. Des Moines Christian re-tied the game at 50-50 with a three-pointer with 1:06 left in the game, but Garrett Wielard was fouled and made one of two free throws to put Pella Christian back in front 51-50 with 44 seconds to play. 

After the Eagles missed two free throws with 20 seconds left, the Lions used a pair of free throws of their own to reclaim a 52-51 lead with 8.8 seconds remaining. After two timeouts, a scramble for the ball, and a third timeout, Pella Christian inbounded the ball to Steinkamp with 1.4 seconds remaining, and the sophomore was fouled on a three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left on the clock. Steinkamp calmly buried the first two free throws to put the Eagles back on top 53-52, then threw the next free throw off the bottom of the rim, leaving Des Moines Christian no time to respond. Playing without leading scorer Gilbert Flagel due to an injury, Pella Christian got big contributions from Runner and Steinkamp in the win. Runner posted a career-high 21 points while connecting on 64% of his shots, and Steinkamp added 16 while making four of his five free throws. Runner said that confidence was a big key in securing the victory.

“I was just telling the guys ‘This is our game. This is our game to win.’ We all felt confident that we were right where we wanted to be and that we knew what we had to do. Coach Steinkamp drew up the play and we knew we had to run it right, and we ran it right. We just played with confidence, and confidence throughout the whole end of that game was really what got us through.”

Pella Christian improved to 4-2 overall on the season, and will look to build on the momentum of the victory against Grand View Christian Thursday night in their final game before Christmas Break.

Strong Second Quarter Not Enough for Pella Christian Girls Basketball In Loss to Ranked Des Moines Christian

A strong second quarter effort wasn’t enough for the Pella Christian girls basketball team in 67-33 loss at Class 3A #4 Des Moines Christian heard live on 92.1 KRLS Monday night.

The Eagles fell into a hole early against the ranked Lions early in the contest, trailing 25-9 at the end of the first quarter. The tide shifted in the second quarter, as Pella Christian opened the period on an 11-0 run to pull within 25-20 two minutes into the quarter. From there, Des Moines Christian regained control of the contest, going into the halftime break on a 12-6 run to lead 37-26. The second half was all Lions, as they outscored the Eagles 30-7 over the final 16 minutes of play to secure the 34-point win. Addie Van Arendonk was the lone Pella Christian player in double-figures with 10 points, while Jessa De Vries came up just shy of double digits with nine. Head Coach Jon Mumm said that while the overall game didn’t go the way they had hoped against a talented Des Moines Christian squad, there are several things they can build on from the second-quarter effort.

“I told the girls in the locker room we’re gonna cling, we’re gonna grab hold of that second quarter effort and performance. We’re gonna look at that tape, we’re gonna look at that film and realize that we can build off of that. We did some really nice things. And again, hats off to Des Moines Christian. They’re the number four ranked team in class 3A for a reason, they are a very good team.”

The Eagles fell to 4-3 overall on the season with the loss, and they will look to close out the first semester strong at West Marshall on Thursday in their final game before Christmas Break.