An all-time classic was heard live on 94.3 KNIA Tuesday evening, as the Indianola boys basketball team took down Pella in a nailbiting 87-85 victory that featured two double-digit deficit comebacks, 26 combined three point shots made, and a potential four-point play with just seconds remaining. The Indians got out to an early lead against the Dutch who struggled to find their shot, earning a 20-12 first quarter lead and a 44-31 halftime advantage. Pella erased the 13 point lead just minutes into the second half, and took advantage of Indianola foul trouble to earn a 59-56 lead going into the fourth.
With all the momentum going their way, Pella built a 10-point 78-68 advantage with just four minutes remaining, but three straight three’s from the Indians cut the lead to one. Pella led 82-79 with less than a minute remaining, AJ Toigo earned an and-one opportunity to tie the game, a defensive stop gave the Indians the ball back when Toigo struck again to give the Indians an 84-82 lead. After another stop and a pair of Indianola free throws with :17 seconds remaining made it a two-possession 86-82 lead for the Indians, the next Pella possession resulted in a missed shot and a deflected rebound off of Indianola with just four seconds remaining, and the game seemed over. On the ensuing sideline inbounds play, Grant Nelson was fouled on a three-point basket with 3.6 seconds remaining to potentially tie the game. The free-throw was missed however, with Indianola making one of two on the other end with just 1.3 seconds remaining, and a deep heave from Pella to win it at the buzzer just missed off the back of the rim to finally end it. Head coach Brett Watson tells KNIA Sports he knew his team wasn’t out of it in the fourth despite going down by 10.
“It was zero coaching, and it was all them just attacking. That’s kind of what our philosophy is, regardless of what the circumstances are, regardless of what the score is. They had built up a lead, but our kids kept attacking. That’s what I love about this group. They don’t get too big into the moment, they are just going to keep playing and we hit some big shots tonight.”
Freshman Drew Kingery and Tyce Johnson each had 20 points to lead the squad. The Indians girls also had a big win despite a slow start against the Lady Dutch. The Indians fell behind 10-4 late in the first quarter, but went on a 17-0 run that held Pella scoreless throughout the second quarter for a 21-10 halftime lead. Pella made runs to cut the lead down to three on two separate occasions, but a strong run by the Indians late in the third quarter pushed the lead up to 20 at 52-32, where the Indians would close out the win. Lauren Blake scored 21 to lead the squad. The boys improve to 11-3 and 6-2 in conference play, while the girls are 10-4 and 7-1. Both squads will next play Friday at Pella Christian.