The Pella basketball teams earned a pair of non-conference wins in a doubleheader against Keokuk on Tuesday, as heard live on 92.1 KRLS. The #14 Dutch girls defeated Keokuk 63-49, while the boys surged in the 2nd half to win 70-46.

In the opener, the girls fell behind 8-4 before an early timeout. The Dutch answered with a quick 10-0 run that gave them a lead they wouldn’t let go of, despite several surges by Keokuk and standout Kendra Boatman. Pella was led in scoring by Parks twins Riley (16) and Avery (14), with Katie Scheckel adding an eight point, 10 rebound night, and Emma Walkup just missing a triple-double with nine points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Riley Parks is featured on Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page.

Head Coach Blaine Forysthe:

“Our players had a great response tonight coming off two loses playing a solid Keokuk team. We had a number of girls step up on both ends of the court. I really like the way we shared the basketball tonight on the offensive end. Of our 26 makes, 20 of them came off an assist from a teammate. When we get the ball moving we start to get great shots, not just good shots.”

The boys game featured 12 ties or lead changes in the first 14 minutes before Pella went on a late run to build an eight-point halftime lead. From there, the Dutch put together two strong quarters to find the finish line, fueled by defense and 13 steals by Dutch players that led to a 42-26 second half.

Jack McGuire continued his dominating start to the season, scoring 29 points and tallying 10 rebounds, with Austin Schulte also having another strong performance at 22 points.

The Dutch girls improve to 2-2 and travel to #5 Carlisle on Thursday, while the undefeated Pella boys are up to 4-0 and join the girls for a doubleheader Saturday at Fort Madison.