Playing without point guard and leading scorer Logan Shetterly, who was out with the flu, the Pella High boys basketball team had no problem dispatching of Newton last night in the first round of the playoffs. The Little Dutch led wire-to-wire in a 75-44 romp as heard live on 92.1 KRLS.

Coach Derek Schulte says that even without Logan, the game plan didn’t change, and everybody stepped up to pick up the slack.

“Defensively, specifically, which I thought was a key to our good start, was our ability to take them off the three-point line. They ended up 3-20 from three, and that was a critical piece in this big win. And offensively when you take away your point guard, you have to move the ball, look to get into transition and get into your offense early. Multiple guys stepped into that role tonight.”

Grant Nelson led four double-digit scores with 15 points, John Oltman added 14, Karl Miller scored 11 and Ryan Gustafson chipped in 10.

Another key piece to Pella’s win was dominance on the glass, as the Little Dutch outrebounded Newton 49-22. Oltman had nine boards and Nelson had eight.

Pella improves to 16-5 on the season and will play Carlisle on Thursday night in Pella in a district final. The Wildcats knocked Pella out in that same round a year ago in Carlisle. Last night, they rallied for a 63-51 win over Grinnell.