A crucial matchup opens 2019 for the Lady Dutch basketball team, while the boys are looking to flex their muscle as the end of the first round of the conference season draws near.

Both welcome Dallas Center-Grimes to PHS for a twin bill tonight. For the Pella girls, they welcome the team they are currently tied for 2nd place with in the Little Hawkeye Conference, a solid Fillies team that they split with last season.

Head Coach Jerod Garland knows the Lady Dutch are going to have to play some of their best basketball of this campaign so far, as DCG marks the beginning of a critical stretch filled with teams capable of playoff victories looming.

Pella’s boys enter the new year in a spot familiar to the program but one sorely missed last winter — atop the conference in a three-way tie with Norwalk and Indianola. The LIttle Dutch will look to handle a DCG squad that snapped a four-game losing skid with their buzzer-beating win over Pella Christian heading into the holidays.