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The Pella boys are now just one win away from the state tournament following their 66-28 win over Knoxville last night in the Class 3A District Final at Oskaloosa.

The two rivals stayed close through the first three minutes as the game was tied at 7-7 but Pella went on a 16-to-two run in the first and second quarters to break the game open and outscored the Panthers 59-21 the rest of the way. Pella coach Mark Core said once again it was Pella’s defensive intensity that made the difference.

Knoxville’s effort was there all night, however their shots just weren’t falling as they shot around 25 percent from the floor and were never able to duplicate the shooting success they had against Chariton in the first round Monday night. Coach Brad McWilliams liked the effort from his players…but in the end it was just too much Pella…

Core also noted he was happy with how the guys stepped up when the team was not 100 percent health. Deckar Lynch missed the game due to the flu, Blaine Forsythe and Josh Pringle were able to play but were also battling the flu and Matt Dowie played with a broken nose he suffered in practice. Nathan Buchheit had another huge game for Pella scoring 17 first half points on his way to 24 for the game to lead all scorers to go along with 9 rebounds. Blaine Forsythe, Matt Meyers and Chris Bandstra each added six points. Knoxville was led by Kaleb Robuck who scored eight of his nine points in the second half. Knoxville finishes the season at five-and-18. Pella improved to 19-3 and moved on to Sub State Monday night at SE Polk where they will face Norwalk who they split with during the regular season and shared he LHC title.