The winter sports season is starting to ramp up for the Pella Dutch as the girls basketball team treks southeast for a traditional opener vs. Mt. Pleasant this evening. The Dutch and Panthers have competed against each other to start the new calendar annually since 2015 — and played four years prior to that from 2009-2012.

Pella has had Mt. Pleasant’s number during that stretch, going 10-1 during the Quikstats/Bound era series, and winning all of the season opening matchups in the past seven years.

Dutch Head Coach Blaine Forsythe knows it would be unwise to overlook the Panthers even with that recent success, especially with key returner Andrea Lopreato, a senior forward that averaged 21.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in 2021-22.

Varsity action for the Pella girls basketball team at Mount Pleasant High School begins at 7 p.m.

Also competing today for the Dutch are the girls wrestlers as they join several central Iowa teams at Norwalk, as well as the boy swimmers with Newton hitting the road to the DMACC Aquatics Center in Ankeny.