Photo courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

The Pella Christian boys basketball team cruised to their 10th District Championship game in the last eleven years, using a 48-point second half to defeat Albia 84-43 in the semifinals heard live on 92.1 KRLS Thursday night. 

The Eagles led from wire-to-wire, scoring the first five points of the game en route to a 17-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Blue Demons chipped away to make it 24-23 at the 3:40 mark of the second quarter, but a 12-2 run from Ben Van Wyngarden and Gilbert Flagel pushed Pella Christian in front 36-25 at halftime. The second half was all Eagles, as they outscored Albia 48-18 in the final 16 minutes of play to improve to 13-10 overall on the season. Flagel led all scorers in the game with 26 points, going 10-11 from the field, 2-2 from three-point range and 4-4 at the free throw line. Van Wyngarden scored all 11 of his points in the second quarter, while Trey Steinkamp added 10 points. Devan Runner and Joshua Rens finished just shy of double-figure scoring, with both knocking down a pair of threes to score eight points a piece. Overall, 11 of Pella Christian’s 16 players scored in the contest, and head coach Joe Steinkamp was thrilled that players that haven’t gotten a lot of varsity minutes this season got their opportunity to thrive.

“I was really happy for them. They kept pace going, which is key, you know, they just played with great energy. You need more than the guys that play to make a great team, and a great team has a whole team full of great teammates. I can’t say enough about those guys’ toughness, their preparation, and how much they help us in practice. They had a great night when they got in, and they also were able to allow the starters and the guys that played major minutes in the first half to have a great night because they prepped them well.”

The Eagles will next play in the District Championship on Tuesday, hosting the winner of Grand View Christian and Centerville. The Thunder and Big Reds play in Centerville tonight at 6 pm after postponing the contest from last night due to weather.