The Pella Christian basketball teams traveled to Indianola Friday evening for the final doubleheader before Christmas break. The Eagles would be swept by the hosting Indians, as heard live on the KRLS2 stream.

The Eagles girls fell 55-29, showing some signs of growth at times throughout the first half, and trailed by five at the end of the first quarter. A scoring flurry by Indianola just before halftime would put the Indians up 30-16 at the break, a lead Pella Christian would not threaten for the rest of the game.

No Eagle scored in double figures, but freshman Emri Agre led the way with nine points. Allison Van Gorp finished with 11 rebounds. Pella Christian falls to 0-7 overall, and 0-3 in the Little Hawkeye Conference.

What was expected to be a thrilling boys game came down to the wire, as Indianola muscled out a 72-68 win. A quick 7-0 run by Pella Christian to start the game triggered an Indianola timeout. That provided the spark the Indians needed to take control for the rest of the quarter, leading 19-18 after one. Indianola kept up the pace and led 42-33 at the half.

While Pella Christian outscored the Indians in the third, it wasn’t quite enough. Indianola was the beneficiary of a few lucky bounces, and iced the game away with free throws. Eagles coach Larry Hessing says that while things didn’t always bounce his team’s way, the credit goes to the Indians for playing well.

“We weren’t able to execute down the stretch like we wanted to and maintain that lead. And we had a couple loose balls, a travel on a loose rebound. Maybe the guy was on his arm, maybe he wasn’t. We had an A-team out here for officials. But there were a couple calls that just didn’t go our way toward the end. Bryant Agre driving in there for the layup at the end maybe could have been called. But regardless, Indianola got the breaks at the end and was able to convert.”

Dan Jungling led the way offensively with 25 points. Josh Van Gorp had a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Pella Christian falls to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in conference games. Both Eagles teams will be back in action Tuesday, January 7th, hosting Grinnell.