In a flip-flop of what most people expected, the Pella High girls won a last second 53-50 thriller over their cross-town rivals from Pella Christian, while the Little Dutch boys cruised to an easy 83-67 victory to avenge their only loss of the season.
Pella’s girls jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the game’s first few minutes, only to see the Eagles claw back to a 12-12 tie early in the second quarter.
The Lady Dutch reclaimed the lead, and held a single digit advantage until less than three minutes remained in the game when Pella Christian took its first and only lead – 48-45.
Pella scored five points on free throws to pull back ahead, eventually taking a 53-50 lead. Pella Christian got the ball back with 17 seconds to play, but ended up settling for an Isabella Baugh three-pointer at the buzzer. When it clanged off the front of the rim, Pella’s season sweep of P.C. was secure.
Kiara Bradley scored 17 to lead the Lady Dutch, who are now 13-3 overall and 7-2 in the Little Hawkeye Conference. Bradley hit three of the five critical free throws for Pella down the stretch.
“We were talking about the Indianola game the other night. We had, what, 6 missed free throws in the third and fourth quarter, and that cost us the game”, Bradley said. “So, we know that free throws are so important for us. One of our main goals is to be at 80-percent or higher on free throws overall. So, to get those free throws down was very important.”
Baugh’s 19 point, 10 rebound double-double led the way for Pella Christian. The Eagles drop to 11-5 and 4-5 in league play.
In the boy’s game, Pella Christian was playing without David Kacmarynski, who injured his ankle in Saturday’s win over Knoxville.
Kac’s absence left a big void in the middle, where Pella’s Ryan Van Wyk took advantage of to the tune of a career high tying 34 points.
“Before the game, coach put an emphasis on playing inside-out with our offense. We really put an emphasis on getting the ball inside, and we did a really good job of that in both halves”, Van Wyk said. “And when they did start crashing down, we kicked it out and shot well from three. We ran that to perfection.”
Drew Pringle added 12 points and Donovan Holterhaus contributed 11 for the Little Dutch, who are 14-1 and in first place in the LHC at 8-1.
Levi Jungling scored 26 for Pella Christian, including a red-hot 16 point fourth quarter. Scott Haveman added 11. The Eagles fall to 12-3 and 6-3 in league play.
Up next – both Pella teams travel to Indianola on Friday night, while Pella Christian’s squads entertain Norwalk.