Pella once again reigned supreme in a pair of close contests against Pella Christian at Eagle Lane in a doubleheader heard live on 92.1 KRLS.

The Little Dutch toppled their crosstown rivals in a 53-49 seesaw affair that saw the boys teams swap being on top of the scoreboard numerous times.

After the boys in green opened with a big lead in the first, Pella Christian ended the first half on a 13-0 surge to pull ahead at the break.

The back-and-forth continued in the 3rd quarter, and the Eagles had a four-point advantage with under two to play before the Dutch scored the game’s final eight points to earn the win.
P.C. Head Coach Larry Hessing was ultimately frustrated by the Pella comeback and some missed chances down the stretch.

“The game was there for the taking for us, and unfortunately I’ve said that a few times before,” he says. “We’re tired of it, to be honest with you. There’s a lot of little things I could come up with on offense we need to stay aggressive, and I think we just got a little passive there — we moved the ball around, and finally it happens with a turnover or whatever–Pella gets some extra possessions, and they start cashing in.”

Landon Vander Leest scored nine clutch fourth-quarter points of a total of 16, and Nick De Jong scooped up a 13 point, 11 rebound double-double. Pella Christian was paced by 13 and eight boards from Jake Pringle.

The Little Dutch improved to 10-5 and 5-4 in the league, while the Eagles fall to 4-11 overall.

In a defensive-oriented game to open the doubleheader, Pella’s girls took control late against the ladies in Maroon, opening the 4th quarter on a 12-2 run to eventually pull out a 56-48 W over the Eagles. The pair combined for 31 first-half turnovers before each offense found big runs in the second half.

Lady Dutch Head Coach Jerod Garland tells KNIA/KRLS Sports he was proud of how his team responded to a 12-0 Eagles burst late in the 3rd quarter.

Pella’s Emily Holterhaus led with a 21-point, 13-rebound double-double, and Chloe Van Vliet racked up 16 points — 8 of which came in the final frame. Kaley Wilson racked up 18 points for Pella Christian and four steals, with Isabella Baugh knocking in 8 and cleaning up 6 boards.