It was a tale of two halves last night as the Pella High girls’ basketball team burst out of the gate strong in a 62-47 win over Ballard, while the Little Dutch boys closed in the second half for 59-52 victory in a doubleheader heard live on 92.1 KRLS.

Emily Holterhaus scored 16 of her game high 19 points as the Lady Dutch forced 14 Bomber turnovers and built a 39-19 halftime lead. Ballard got it to single digits once in the fourth quarter, but Pella was able to pull back away for the win. Coach Jerod Garland was especially pleased with the first 16 minutes.

“Defensively I thought our full court presses were causing a little trouble as we were pretty active in it. And even if we didn’t get a turnover, we were getting some tips and making them a little nervous. Really we played pretty well for three quarters, and we lost a little focus, defensive transition wasn’t really good, but overall, we’ll take it.”

Holterhaus finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, Caroline Bradley added 10 points and Kara Wichhart grabbed nine boards. Pella is now 2-2 on the season.

In the boys game, a sluggish Little Dutch team found themselves down 21-17 at halftime, but a 26 point third quarter gave Pella the lead. Ballard got back even 48-48 midway through the third, and Pella closed on an 11-4 run for what coach Derek Schulte called an ugly win.

“Good teams have to find a way to win multiple ways. I thought Friday night (against Grinnell) that we played a much cleaner and much sharper game. Tonight, you could tell from the get go that we were going to have to grind one out. We’re excited about our guys ability to respond in the second half, take a lead, and then finish it.”

Landon Vander Leest and Ryan Gustafson each had 13 points for Pella, Logan Shetterly added 12 and Nick DeJong scored 11 points and gobbled up 14 rebounds.

Pella is 3-0 on the season, and will join the girls for the first Tulip City Showdown of the season when Pella Christian pays a visit to Pella High School this Friday night.