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Defense has risen to the occasion more times than not for the Knoxville girls, last night the 12th ranked Panthers needed one more stop with one-point-nine seconds remaining and got just that to defeat 14th ranked Pella 36-to-34. The win assured Knoxville of no worse than a share of the Little Hawkeye Conference championship with an opportunity to clinch it outright Tuesday night.

Pella was playing outstanding defense its self in the first half along with the shooting of Courtney Kelderman who went three-for-five to lead the Lady Dutch to a 22/16 lead at the half. However…in the second half Knoxville immediately went on a 7-2 run to get the lead down to one. Both teams had chances to either pull away or get a late basket to take the lead. Knoxville Coach Jim Utiermarkt said he finally called on his big guns to make some shots down the stretch.

The free throws by Katie Ayers were the game winning points with just over six seconds to play. Knoxville also limited Pella to just 12 points in the second half to get the win. Pella had the ball for the final shot just like it did in the first game…but a tipped desperation three missed ending the game. Knoxville was led by Sam Abens with eight points and Lacy Stevenson had seven. The Panthers improve to 18-and-one on the season and 12-and-one in Little Hawkeye Conference play needing only a victory over Oskaloosa on Tuesday to wrap up the title outright. Pella drops to 13-and-three on the season and 11-and-two in conference play.

Pella was led by an impressive night from senior guard Courtney Kelderman, who snagged a team-high five rebounds and sank four three-pointers en route to a game-high 14 points. The Lady Dutch had gone into the game with their sights set on a conference title, and Head Coach Jerod Garland said it was hard to fall short.

Knoxville accounts for the only losses on Pella’s conference record, as the Lady Dutch are now 11-2 in the Little Hawkeye Conference. Up next are a pair of non-conference games; with a home game with A-D-M on Saturday, and a contest with Fairfield on Monday.