Pella’s girls and boys each earned wins over Fairfield last night at Pella High School. The Lady Dutch were victorious 45-36, while the Little Dutch ran away with a 96-54 win.

Despite good half-court defense, the number one ranked Pella girls only led 20-18 at halftime because of an uncharacteristic 12 first half turnovers. Halftime adjustments called for an attacking approach in the second half, and it led to a whopping 24 free throws in the final 16 minutes.

Pella made 19 of those 24 attempts, and 23-of-30 for the game, as they pulled away for the victory. Emily Holterhaus scored 12 points to lead the Lady Dutch, Kiara Bradley added an 11-point 10-rebound double-double, and Katie Vander Molen chipped in with 10 points – eight from the free throw line in the pivotal second half.

Pella is now 5-0 on the season.

In the boys game, Pella broke a 15-15 tie midway through the first quarter with a 15-0 run that stretched into the second quarter. The Little Dutch forced 18 first half Trojan turnovers and turned many of those into layups as they built a 58-32 halftime lead.

Fourteen Pella players scored. Ryan Van Wyk scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half, and Donovan Holterhaus and Drew Pringle were also in double figures with 13 and 11, respectively. Pella out-rebounded Fairfield 41-22 for the game, and only committed 9 turnovers.

The Little Dutch improve to 4-1 on the season.

Both Pella teams will play host to Indianola on Friday night. The girls game will be a battle between the #1 ranked teams in classes 5-A and 4-A. In the boys game, it will be the first matchup between the two schools in Pella Coach Mark Core’s nearly two decades at the helm of the Little Dutch.