They rebounded the ball extremely well, forced 19 turnovers, had 11 more steals, but the Pella High boys’ basketball team still came up short to Cedar Rapids Xavier for the second straight year, 70 – 65, in last night’s Class 3A state semifinal. The first quarter was back and forth, but a last-second three by the Saints’ Mitchell Burger put them on top, 14 – 12 early. Pella out-grabbed the Saints in rebounds in the first half, 23 – 19, including 12 offensive boards, but the Little Dutch could only convert those into two points while shooting just 9-for-31 from the field for just 29%. Pella was also just 2-for-9 from the free throw line. The Saints expanded the lead to 16 with seven minutes to go, thanks to lights-out shooting from sophomore Jackson Joens, who went 6-for-7 from beyond the arc and scored 22 points for the game, more than double his season average. A late surge from Pella brought them within three, but couldn’t get the tying bucket to fall in. The Saints shot 67% from the field in the final 16 minutes and 54% for the game; the Little Dutch were led by Will Warner’s 20 points and Ryan Van Wyk’s 19. Assistant Coach, Jim Dingeman, says the cylinder just wasn’t kind enough to the Little Dutch last night. Pella falls to 23 – 2 on the season, and it was their first loss to a Class 3A team since losing to Xavier in last year’s quarterfinals. They can still end their season with a win in the consolation game at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday against Chariton.