In the kickoff to the second rotation of the Little Hawkeye Conference basketball season and the homestretch of the 2022-23 year overall, the Dutch and Warriors split a twin bill heard live on 92.1 KRLS Friday.

Pella’s #10 in Class 4A girls won 52-42, while the Norwalk boys dominated in a 65-35 victory.

The opener saw the Dutch race to a first quarter lead and they stayed ahead wire-to-wire, using an 11-0 run to extend to a 20-4 advantage just before a Warriors buzzer-beating three. From there, it was Pella holding off several Norwalk runs as the road team pulled frequently to below a double-digit deficit, only for the home team to use their defensive strengths and interior game to stay ahead, according to Dutch Head Coach Blaine Forsythe.

“Norwalk did a great job on the defensive end making it tough on our guards. We were able to take care of the basketball, respond through adversity, and take advantage of our size in the post,” he says.

Pella’s Hailey Van Vark finished with 16 points and Mia Warner added 14, while Bailey Birmingham of Norwalk had a 23 point, 12 rebound performance.

After the Dutch boys toppled an experienced Warriors bunch in the boys opener in December, it was Norwalk who flexed their muscle in the night cap. Despite an early lead for the green and white, a steady attack from the interior, led by Braeden Carlson, pulled the advantage to a 12-point margin at halftime. Then, a barrage of three point shots from Aidan Harder and Jack Brown pushed the contest to substitutes playing a large chunk of the final period.

Carlson finished with 18 points and 7 rebounds and Harder and Brown for the Warriors each toppled double figures scoring; Roman Hugan paced the Dutch with 13 points.

Pella’s girls are 11-3 overall and 6-2 in the conference and are off until traveling to ranked in 3A Grinnell Tuesday; the boys fall to 7-6 overall and 3-5 in the league and head to Gilbert today to take on 2A-ranked Carroll Kuemper in a tournament at 1:30 p.m.

Norwalk’s girls fall to 3-11 overall and 2-6 in league play while the Warriors boys have won five in a row to move to 9-3 and 5-3 in the conference, and both are off until hosting Pella Christian Tuesday.