One night after scoring just four points in the first quarter in a blowout loss against Newton, the Pella High boys basketball team set a school record for points in a 118-76 victory over Centerville Saturday afternoon.

The Little Dutch exploded for 32 first quarter points and never let up, eventually getting the game to running clock late in the third quarter.

Coach Mark Core says that after the tough loss to the Cardinals, it was nice to have to come back and play less than 24 hours later.

“If we would have had to wait and play a game on Tuesday, which would have been the normal pattern, I think that would have been a long time to wait. This game arrived just perfectly timed, and more importantly, our guys responded to the opportunity. They could have come out really flat because it’s a non-conference opponent and it was a much smaller crowd today, but they had a very workman like attitude and cranked up the defensive intensity.”

That defensive intensity led to 13 Pella steals, resulting in numerous fast break layups. They also blocked seven shots.

Ryan Van Wyk and Donovan Holterhaus had 26 points each and Kobe Diers had 7 rebounds and 7 assists.

Pella improves to 17-2 on the season, and returns to action as part of an LHC twinbill tomorrow night for Senior Night at home against Oskaloosa.