The Knoxville boys gave Pella all they could handle, but in the end, Pella held on for a 67-62 win. Knoxville led for the first 14 minutes, but Pella eventually grabbed a three point halftime lead. Pella was unable to slam the door late as the Panthers took advantage of several missed Little Dutch free throws in the final minutes to get right back in the game before running out of time. Little Dutch head coach, Mark Core, said after a sluggish first half he was happy with how his team responded in the second half. Pella’s Isaac Naaktgeboren was a force to be reckoned with as he finished with a career high 24 points, Bryce Bortscheller added 18, while Garret Jansen also had a career high with 15 points. Knoxville was led by Ryan Douglass with 24 while Gerritt Davis added 16 for the Panthers who fell to 0-9 on the season and 0-4 in LHC play while Pella improved to 6-3 and 2-1 in the LHC. Pella continues a tough stretch of games as they face two of the top teams in the LHC in back-to-back nights hosting Grinnell tomorrow night and Norwalk on Friday.