The Indianola basketball teams swept the Pella Christian Eagles in a doubleheader Thursday night heard live on 94.3 KNIA. Both games were gritty, physical and battles down to the final buzzer. The Indianola girls won 49-43, while the boys won 49-45 in the final girls and boys doubleheader of the 2025-2026 season.

The Pella Christian girls team came into tonight’s matchup shorthanded, as they have faced season-ending injuries and sickness as well. Nonetheless, they gave a fully healthy Indianola team all they could handle. 

It was a slow and sloppy start to the game on both ends as neither team could find a rhythm in the first quarter. Indianola’s Eden Whitson led the way with 16 points and had four of the six Indian first quarter points. On the Eagle side, it was Olivia De Haan scoring four points in the first frame as well to put her team ahead 8-6. 

In the second quarter, Indianola played much cleaner but still struggled to find a shooting rhythm. Meanwhile, De Haan knocked down two three-pointers to give herself ten first half points despite trailing 17-16 at the break. 

In the second half, Indianola was able to score on a much more consistent basis by scoring as many points in the third quarter as they did the entire first half. Indian Junior Madison Grover came alive as she had five points in the frame and Whitson continued her strong night with four more in the third. Despite the offensive success from the Indians, Pella Christian wouldn’t go away and continued to follow closely behind. Leading Eagles scorer, Rachel Kacmarynski had herself 15 second half points. In the end, Indianola improved to 12-8 with the 49-43 win.

The boys game was eerily similar to the way the girls game played out. It was a scrappy, physical matchup from start to finish. Pella Christian Senior, Gilbert Flagel made his presence known immediately by getting to the foul line twice and hitting all four free throws. Indianola was able to get to the line just as often but didn’t have the success the Eagles did. Flagel scored almost half of Pella Christian’s points as he ended with 22 of their team’s 45. 

Despite the poor free throw shooting early from the Indians, they were able to get both Blake and Easton McGraw scoring opportunities to end in double figures. It came down to the wire as Pella Chrisitan had a chance to tie it in the final 30 seconds but couldn’t get the basket to fall. Indianola improved to 9-9 on the season. The Indians are back tonight with Des Moines Christian on the road, while the girls prepare for their opening district matchup with Ottumwa scheduled for February 21st.