Photo courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

Despite their final season on Eagle Lane coming to an end, the seniors for the Pella Christian boys basketball team left their mark on the program.

Among the Eagles five seniors this season were Gilbert Flagel, Devan Runner, Garrett Wielard, Ben Van Wyngarden, and Caleb Volk. Over their high school careers at Pella Christian, the five seniors combined to record 1,453 points, 689 rebounds, 332 assists, 191 steals, and 73 blocks. This season, the group scored 985 of the Eagles’ 1,344 points and grabbed 450 of the team’s 702 rebounds. Additionally, Pella Christian’s seniors had 202 of the team’s 355 assists, 111 of their 169 steals, and 44 of their 58 blocks. Head coach Joe Steinkamp said that while they are disappointed the season is over, the five seniors help establish a strong culture for what he wants Eagles’ basketball to be. 

“I think they’re just a testament of what can happen when everybody buys into being incredibly unselfish and playing with a lot of toughness and competitiveness. Those guys just kept getting better throughout their whole high school lives, and they were unbelievable. I’m so proud of them, not only as basketball players, just but just as men, how they handle themselves, and how they interact with each other. They were just an absolute joy to coach, and really we’re just heartbroken that we don’t get to coach them down at State, but just incredibly, incredibly thankful to have the opportunity to coach them.”

The Eagles ended their 2025-2026 season with a 14-11 overall record.