The Pella High boys won head coach Derek Schulte’s debut last night, beating Gilbert 66-60 in front of the home crowd. Meanwhile, the girls went on the road and lost to North Polk 48-41.

Pella’s boys never trailed, hitting five first quarter three pointers as they built a 10-point lead. The margin ballooned to 17 with five minutes left in the game, but the Tigers rallied to cut it to five with two minutes to play. Pella hit its free throws down the stretch and held on for the win.

Nick De Jong battled foul trouble all game, but was Pella’s leading scorer with 13 points. Avery Van Zee and Landon Vander Leest each had 12, and Logan Shetterly and Ryan Gustafson chipped in 11 apiece.

For the Pella girls, Emily Holterhaus scored 13 points and Erica Bossard added 9 as the Lady Dutch fall to 1-1 on the season.

Both Pella teams head to Grinnell on Friday to open Little Hawkeye Conference play.