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For the first time since 2003 the Pella boys will play for a state championship in basketball after the Little Dutch beat top rated Mount Pleasant 55-42 in the Class 3A semifinals last night at Wells Fargo Arena.

Pella grabbed an early 6-2 lead but things changed when the top ranked Panthers went on a 12-0 run and held Pella scoreless for just over five minutes to gain a 14-6 lead after one quarter. The two teams played even in the second quarter and Mount Pleasant held a 26-18 lead at halftime.

The second half was different story. Pella came out on fire in the third quarter outscoring the Panthers 15-4 to earn a 33-30 lead then added to it outscoring the Panthers 22-12 in the final eight minutes. Coach Mark Core said the team really showed their heart in the second half: [simage=1741,200,y,right]

“It was just an amazing second half to come back from a fairly significant eight point halftime defecit. I thought our defense was fairly solid all night but finally our offense started clicking in the second half. It was just a great game by a bunch of super kids on our team”

Senior point guard Matt Dowie says winning a state championship has been their goal all season and he says playing in big games is nothing new for this group of athletes:

“I think we have a good shot because we have a team of players with big game experience in other sports , Cross Country state champions, football runners up and I have played at the state level in soccer. We’ve all been at this level and we know how to win so I think that will really help us come Saturday night”

Pella was led in scoring and rebounding by Nathan Buchheit with 16 points and eight rebounds. Nick Dorman continued his outstanding play at the state tournament with 13 points off the bench and Blaine Forsythe added 10 points. Pella improved to 22-3 on the season and will play Sioux City Heelan for the Class 3A State Championship tomorrow night starting at 6pm after Heelan beat Davenport Assumption by one point on a buzzer beater in their semifinal game. You can hear tomorrow’s championship game live with Jamie Brockman and Randy Sikkema on 92.1 FM KRLS starting with the pregame at 5:30pm. Tickets will only be available at Wells Fargo Arena, there will be no tickets sold at Pella High School.