Grinnell knocked off Pella Christian in both ends of a basketball doubleheader last night on Eagle Lane, with the girls winning 65-31 and the boys rallying for a 50-49 victory. You heard it live on the KRLS2 stream at www.kniakrls.com.
In the boys game, Pella Christian built a lead as large as 10 points on multiple occasions in the first half, but the Tigers kept clawing back. P.C. led 30-24 at intermission, and the lead was cut to one by the end of the third quarter. When Grinnell broke a 44-44 tie midway through the fourth, the Eagles never regained the advantage.
Pella Christian did have a chance in the final seconds. Trailing 50-48, Jaedon Huisman went to the foul line for a one-and-one opportunity, calmly knocking down the first before missing long on the second. Grinnell grabbed the rebound and threw the ball away as time expired.
Afterwards, coach J.D. Boer commented on how greuling the Little Hawkeye Conference schedule is on a night in and night out basis. The Tigers had just one league win coming in, but gave his club all they could handle last night.
“I thought they had a good game plan against us and really took us out of our rhythm. They made some big plays down the stretch, and unfortunately for us we weren’t able to make them. The game tightened up a little bit, and while we had a little bit of a lead, it tightened up as they gradually worked their way back into it. We just had a hard time putting the ball into the basket.”
Levi Schelhaas led the Eagles with 17 points and Eric Mulder added 10 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals. Pella Christian drops to 9-8 on the season and 5-5 in the LHC.
In the girls game, Pella Christian was playing without two of its top six players, but hung tough with the high octane Tigers, trailing just 13-11 at the end of the first quarter. Grinnell turned up the intensity on defense and knocked down several three pointers in the second and third quarters, eventually putting the running clock into effect.
Allison Van Gorp’s 16 points and 10 rebounds paced the Eagles, who fall to 8-8 on the season and 3-7 in conference play.
Up next for Pella Christian is another home league doubleheader on Tuesday against Dallas Center-Grimes.