A swarming defense that forces dozens of turnovers has been a point of pride for the Pella High girls basketball team this season, but as the Lady Dutch have forced their opponents to turn the ball over, they’ve also had their own struggles to maintain quality possessions.

“I just want to see us handle the basketball a little bit better. We are averaging too many turnovers to accomplish the goals that these girls have set, so we need to shore that up,” said Pella girls head coach Jerod Garland.

“When you turn the ball over twenty times, that’s a lot of possessions – a lot of shots – that you don’t get to take; so we need to take care of the ball better.”

The Lady Dutch are 5-2 overall, and begin a full Little Hawkeye Conference schedule on Tuesday, when they face Oskaloosa.