Two tight contests kicked off the new year for the Pella basketball teams, with the boys winning a 61-57 overtime defensive bout and the girls falling 55-51, as heard live on the KRLS2 stream.

Pella’s boys at one point led by as much as ten points in the final quarter, only for the Mustangs boys to come to life and take a five point lead. The Little Dutch closed the period by tying the Mustangs, and missed two opportunities to win in the final 11 seconds of regulation.

A Nick DeJong bucket underneath, followed by a stop and Grant Nelson led, gave Pella enough cushion to fend off the Mustangs in the extra four minute period.

Head Coach Derek Schulte tells KRLS Sports he’s glad to see his guys gut out a win on a night the offense wasn’t clicking with DCG’s possession protective style disrupting the flow of the normally high-octane Dutch.

“We knew coming off the break it might not look the same as it did before,” he says. “And while at times I was disappointed with how loose we were with the basketball and didn’t value it, I was really proud of the response our guys made late to get this victory against a really gritty DCG team.”

John Oltman scored 16 points, and Grant Nelson added 10 from the bench.

Despite coming back from an eight point deficit in the first half and another two possession gap in the third quarter, a foul fest in the second half and the fast Fillies prevented the Lady Dutch offense from finding needed rhythm in their close loss and comeback attempt. Pella gave away 18 possessions and allowed DCG 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, but kept the game to a two-point deficit going into the half. Ice-cold shooting from the field and the free throw line led to several missed chances for Pella to complete the comeback.

Emily Holterhaus had 18 points, now just six shy of the 1000 career point mark, and Elly Cairney added 11.

Pella’s boys are now 7-2 overall and stay atop the conference standings at 5-1, the girls fall to 6-4 and 4-2 in league play. Both host ADM for a twin bill on Tuesday.