Not to be overlooked after an incredible nightcap, the Pella Christian girls and Pella Lady Dutch basketball teams entertained a large crowd with a close matchup of their own to open the Tulip City Showdown, round one, with Pella earning a 58-50 win, as heard live on 92.1 KRLS.
While lacking some of the tension and drama the boys game had, both young, inexperienced girls teams proved to be great tests for the other, with the Lady Dutch flying out of the gates to a 13-6 lead, only for Pella Christian to rush to their own 13-0 run to grab a four-point advantage midway through the second quarter and take a 22-21 advantage into halftime.
A flurry of shots from Pella’s Faith Diers–including back-to-back threes, quickly gave Pella the advantage they needed in the 3rd quarter, and despite the Eagles hanging with the girls in white and green, foul trouble for the Eagles’ post Allison Van Gorp opened up several chances for Lady Dutch freshman Jasmine Namminga, who scored 10 of her 12 total points in the second half with five boards in the final 16 minutes. Pella Junior Madison Naig scored 11 clutch points in the 4th quarter, including a three point play and five total free throws to ice the game in favor of the home team.
Lady Dutch Head Coach Jerod Garland was impressed with how his team finished the game despite some troubles in the middle portion of the game.
“I thought the girls did a really good job, I think with only six turnovers in the second half,” Garland says. “They did a nice job of handling it better and then we just thought the fight was great the whole way, and we knew it was going to be a game like this–it always is, and they’re a good team, and so it was fun to see this fourth quarter and see the girls start to believe and pull away.”
Eagles Head Coach Brad Engbers says they need to find a way to finish more effectively, as they have largely remained competitive with four quality teams to start the year, but with no victories to show for it.
“We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but once we got things going, the kids were doing a lot of things that we haven’t been doing this season and produced a little bit more on the offensive end,” he says. “Obviously you want to get that W each night, but we were pleased with our effort.”
Pella Christian was paced by 13 points and three steals from Chloe Morgan and a 12 point, six-round, three-steal night from Emri Agre. Diers finished with 13 points for the Lady Dutch.
The Eagles fall to 0-4 and head to PCM Monday for a girls-boys twin bill that can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS, while the 2-1 Lady Dutch welcome the Bombers of Ballard to Pella High School Tuesday, which is a doubleheader that can also be heard live on KRLS.