Pella Christian outlasts MFL-MarMac in 2A quarterfinals

By Ryan Timmerman | Photos by Matthew Putney  

DES MOINES - Tysen De Vries knew his Pella Christian Eagles had a run in them.

“It’s a game of runs,” the junior said. “They made a run and were making some tough shots, and we needed to make a run back.”

De Vries and the fourth-seeded Eagles did just that in their Class 2A IHSAA state tournament quarterfinal win against fifth-seeded MFL-MacMac on Monday at Des Moines’ Wells Fargo Arena. 

After trailing by five to end the first, Pella Christian wound up 61-54 winners over the Bulldogs, and will advance to play top-seeded Central Lyon on Thursday in the semifinals.

Pella Christian (16-9) is making its third trip to state in the last four seasons.

De Vries committed his second foul of the game with just under six minutes left in the opening quarter, but finished with a dozen points -- all over the final three frames -- along with five rebounds and five assists.

Senior Aiden Stoltz led the Eagles in scoring with 15 points, though the team did manage a balanced scoring attack as four more players scored five or more points for Pella Christian.

“Our calling card all year has been different guys stepping up at different times,” said Pella Christian head coach J.D. Boer. “Tonight kind of felt like that. Some of our guys didn’t score a lot, but when they did score, it came at big times for us. We just found ways.”

MFL MarMac (24-2) was led by sophomore Zach Driscoll, who went for a game-high 22 points. He and Pella Christian junior Joshiah Vos shared the high for rebounds with eight apiece and the Bulldogs’ Carver Blietz-Bentien, a junior, scored 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting.

The lead changed sides four times throughout, though the second half was mostly modest runs by MFL MarMac that were answered by the Eagles.

The Bulldogs led 15-5 early, but Pella Christian used an 18-4 run that was capped off by a 3-pointer by senior Lincoln Vander Molen, who finished with eight, to take a 23-19 lead and force MFL MarMac head coach Eric Dettbarn to use a timeout.

Though the Bulldogs were able to bounce back to take a 27-23 lead, Pella Christian rebounded to take a 38-31 advantage into halftime and effectively held off MFL MarMac in the second half.

“We had to pick it up on the defensive end,” De Vries said. “We played really good team defense. It’s the state tournament, there’s only good teams there. And they’re going to go on runs, we just have to believe we’re going to make runs too and stay focused.”

Central Lyon 74, Des Moines Christian 41

Central Lyon entered its Class 2A quarterfinal game at the IHSAA state tournament against Des Moines Christian as the top seed, although the opposition sported a better record.

Ultimately, Central Lyon proved worthy of its No. 1 seed in 2A, as it blitzed eighth-seeded DM Christian over the final three quarters and strolled to a 74-41 victory at Des Moines’ Wells Fargo Arena on Monday.

A Landon Craven jumper for DM Christian made it 17-11 Central Lyon with just over two minutes to go in the first, but Central Lyon dominated from that point on and went into halftime up 45-23.

Last season’s 2A runner-up, Central Lyon (22-1) dominated the down low behind 21 points and 14 rebounds from senior Andrew Austin. Both stats went for game highs.

“The game’s all about momentum,” the 6-foot-7 Austin said. “We just got some momentum and ran away with it. We came into the game really confident.”

Seniors Zach Lutmer (17 points) and Josh Elbert (16) also reached double figures in the win.

Combined, Austin and Elbert only missed one shot each in the first quarter. Austin missed one of the duo’s 10 field attempts and Elbert missed one of the pair’s three free throws. Sophomore Ephraim Hoefert caught fire in the second quarter and hit three 3-pointers on as many attempts for his only points of the game as Central Lyon extended the lead.

“Josh Elbert shot the ball really well tonight,” Austin said. “Teams might have to start playing up closer to him from now on. Everybody on the floor can score for us.”

In total, the Lions of Central Lyon scored 34 points in the paint to DM Christian’s eight. And the Lions of DM Christian were outrebounded 43-23 for the game.

Sophomore Seaton Ingram led DM Christian with 11 points, but was largely shut down by the Central Lyon defense after seven of those points came in the first.

“We were clicking on both ends,” Elbert said. “We started playing excellent defense and that carried over to offense. We moved the ball really well and knocked down open shots.

“We love trying to push the ball, so our offense really starts on the defensive end, because we’re trying to force a miss so we can push it back the other way.