The Pella basketball teams traveled to Fairfield Tuesday evening for a non-conference tilt, as aired live on 92.1 KRLS. The girls game featured a pair of fairly evenly-matched teams, and it took until the final horn sounded to determine a winner. The Lady Dutch had the ball last, and Madison Naig sealed the 54-52 victory with a midrange baseline jumper.

While it originally was waved off, Naig’s jumper was counted, and she finished with a game-high 23 points. Head Coach Jerod Garland says that it Fairfield was a tough matchup, but they were able to persevere for the victory.

“All is well that ends well, maybe is a good phrase for tonight’s game. The sign of a growing team is when you can win when you’re not at your best. And tonight wasn’t our best game, and a lot of that had to do with Fairfield. They have a ton of quickness and girls that can drive and shoot, and it’s just hard to match up with their quickness with our team. And the girls persevered, that’s the best thing you can say about them. They had opportunities to get down, and this group has shown that they don’t get down. They just kept battling. A gritty win to be able to pull this out tonight.”

Anna Vander Waal also was in double figures with 15 points. The Lady Dutch move to 4-2 on the season with the victory.

The Pella boys entered as the clear-cut favorites, and they left no doubt. A 19-9 first quarter lead swelled to 36-19 by halftime, and the Little Dutch cruised to a 66-31 win. Pella was able to institute the running clock rule midway through the third quarter, allowing coach Derek Schulte to empty the bench throughout the second half. Every player that dressed saw some time on the floor.

Grant Nelson led a balanced scoring effort with 17 points. Logan Shetterly added 15, whole Treyton Sturgeon chimed in with 11. The Little Dutch improve to 3-2 on the season. Both teams head to Norwalk on Friday to close out the 2019 portion of the schedule. That doubleheader will air live on 92.1 KRLS.