Little Hawkeye Conference shows its might again as Pella Christian gets past MFL MarMac in boys’ state basketball tournament

DES MOINES — It’s called the Little Hawkeye Conference, but there’s absolutely nothing little about it.

The eight-school league is a behemoth when it comes to boys’ basketball.

It has had a state championship team the last four years in Class 3A: Oskaloosa in 2019, Norwalk in 2020, Pella in 2021 and Dallas Center-Grimes last year. It has a state qualifier this year in three separate classes: Norwalk in 4A, Newton in 3A and Pella Christian in 2A.

That’s a power conference, folks. And the ultimate dream of three state titlists remained alive Monday night when Pella Christian knocked off gutty MFL Mar-Mac, 61-54, in a 2A quarterfinal at Wells Fargo Arena.

“Every night is like this for us,” said Pella Christian’s Avery Stoltz. “It’s great preparation for us.”

This MFL MarMac team, meanwhile, played in the mostly 1A Upper Iowa Conference and had a very small starting lineup that consisted of one guy 5-foot-11, three who are 6-1 and a “big” at 6-2. Yet the Bulldogs have a bunch of good athletes and a really good sophomore player in Zach Driscoll and proved they belonged on this stage.

Their top four scorers return next season, so perhaps this was just a dress rehearsal, so to speak. MFL MarMac finished 24-2.

“I know we’re going to put work in in the offseason and come back bigger, faster and stronger,” said MFL Mar-Mac’s Carver Blietz-Bentien.

“This will help tremendously,” said Driscoll. “We know what we can do. We know that we can compete with the best of the best. Only losing one guy, we’ll be good next year.”

MFL MarMac, making its first state appearance since 2013, spurted to a 15-5 lead early and still led after the first quarter, 19-14. A 14-0 Pella Christian run at the end of the first and into the second gave it a lead, but MFL MarMac scored the next eight points for a 27-23 lead.

Pella Christian went back ahead by halftime, 38-31, and MFL MarMac never got closer than three the rest of the way, though it was never more than a nine-point game. The Bulldogs rued missing a number of makeable inside shots down the stretch that prevented a full-fledged comeback.

“They’re a pretty good team, and we didn’t shoot the ball real well tonight,” said MFL MarMac Coach Eric Dettbarn. “I thought that was our downfall. We got some good looks, we just didn’t get them to drop tonight. I thought that was the biggest key to the ballgame.”

MFL MarMac shot 36.7 percent from the field in the game, after making 8 of 14 shots in the first quarter. Driscoll had a team-high 22 points and Blietz-Bentien 15.

Stoltz had 15 points for Pella Christian.

“We talked about that at the beginning of the year,” Dettbarn said. “I really felt like we had a group of kids that were competitive enough and hard enough workers that I really felt like we had a chance to get down here. I knew a lot of people doubted us because of our schedule, but I really felt like we could go come down here, and I really felt like we could compete here.”

AT DES MOINES

MFL/MarMac (54): Wyatt Powell 0-3 1-2 1, Zach Driscoll 8-24 4-4 22, Carver Blietz-Bentien 6-11 1-1 15, Parker Kuehl 4-12 0-0 8, Hunter Meyer 2-4 0-0 4, Ethan Goltz 0-0 0-0 0, Bryce Diehl 0-0 0-0 0, Brock Hackett 0-3 0-0 0, Carter Lightfoot 0-0 0-0 0, Landyn Miene 2-3 0-0 4, Jaron Wille 0-0 0-0 0, Kade McElwaine 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-60 6-7 54.

PELLA CHRISTIAN (61): Tysen DeVries 3-7 5-5 12, Aiden Stoltz 6-9 0-1 15, Dane Geetings 2-11 3-4 7, Lincoln VanderMolen 3-6 0-0 8, Josiah Vos 3-6 2-4 8, Jack Fancher 0-1 0-0 0, Trae VanMaanen 0-0 0-0 0, Isaac Kacmarynski 2-3 1-2 5, Caleb Van Arendonk 1-1 0-0 2, Wyatt Snyder 0-0 0-0 0, Deacon Brandenhorst 0-0 0-0 0, Kaden Kruid 0-0 0-0 0, Isaiah Breems 2-3 0-0 4, Cooper Spronk 0-1 0-0 0, Landon Fransman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-48 11-16 61.

Halftime - Pella Christian 38, MFL/MarMac 31. 3-point goals - MFL/MarMac 4-18 (Driscoll 2-10, Blietz-Bentien 2-2, Kuehl 0-4, Hackett 0-2). Pella Christian 6-17 DeVries 1-2, Stoltz 3-5, Geetings 0-03, VanderMolden 2-5, Vos 0-1, Fancher 0-1). Rebounds - MFL/MarMac 36 (Driscoll 8), Pella Christian 34 (Vos 8). Total fouls - MFL/MarMac 16, Pella Christian 12. Fouled out - None. Assists - MFL/MarMac 8 (Powell 4), Pella Christian 18 (Geetings 6).

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com