The Pleasantville basketball teams hosted their first doubleheader of the season Tuesday evening, taking on Melcher-Dallas, as heard live on the KNIA3 stream.
The girls game was a classic tale of two halves, as Pleasantville surged in the third quarter en route to a 52-23 victory. The first quarter saw the Saints score eight unanswered points in the first quarter to lead 8-4 after one. Pleasantville regained control in the second quarter and took an 18-17 lead into the locker room.
The Trojans switched to a full court press in the second half, which completely flustered the Saints in their transition game. Pleasantville outscored Melcher-Dallas 34-6 in the second half to put the game away. Trojans head coach Jeff Cook says he gave his team a challenge, and they responded with a fantastic effort.
“The team that was going to win this game was the team that wanted it more. And I challenged [the girls] that if we were the team that was going to win, we were going to have to want it more than they did. And I think in the second half they showed that they did want it more and we really got out there and got after them and there was a stretch there where we really had a flurry, and all of a sudden we break a three or four point ball game into a 12 and then 16, and then we took control after that. I really am very happy with the way the girls played in the second half. The effort was awesome.”
Rachel Harvey led the way with 10 points. Bridget McKinney pulled in eight rebounds to lead in that regard. Pleasantville improves to 4-0 on the season. They’ll be back in action Monday against Panorama. Melcher-Dallas falls to 0-2, and will take on Ankeny Christian on Friday at home.
The boys game saw the Trojans race out to a quick lead after Melcher-Dallas opened the scoring. Pleasantville kept steadily increasing their lead, started the 35-point rule in the third quarter, and ran away with a 73-24 win. Pleasantville coach Joel Allman said that his team was able to effectively neutralize their opponent’s main scoring threats.
“We did a good job of communicating where their main threats were when we were on defense. We were trying to limit the two Krpan kids, and we were able to hold them scoreless at halftime which was huge for us defensively. And then offensively, we didn’t have a lot of shots fall the first quarter. But the main thing for us, if we take care of the ball, we’re going to get enough shots that they will start falling and I think that’s what happened that second quarter and third quarter.”
Teron Mount and Brady Powers each scored 16 points to lead the way offensively. Mason Scheve added 15 points as well. The Trojans start the season 1-0, with a road trip to Woodward Academy coming up on Friday. Melcher-Dallas returns home to take on Ankeny Christian on Friday.