[simage=1646,400,y,center]

Ballard scored the first eight points of the game and Pella was never able to recover as the Little Dutch fell 51-25 in the Girls’ Class 3-A Region 3 Final.

“I think from the opening three or four minutes the tone was set, and we just didn’t bounce back very well,” said Pella girls Head Coach Jerod Garland. “Ballard is just a great team. Their one loss this year is to the number one team in Class 4-A by six points. We were hoping that we’d be at our best and maybe we’d catch them on an off shooting night, but it didn’t happen that way.”

That’s Pella girls Head Basketball Coach Jerod Garland. In the loss, junior Kelsey Fynaardt had 10 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Dutch in both categories. Junior Hali Steenhoek added 6 points. The game also marked the end of the careers of Courtney Kelderman, Whitney Pavlat and Jordyn Vande Lune, who will graduate this spring. The Pella girls finish the season with a record of 18-5, with four of their losses coming against teams that qualified for the state tournament.