It wasn’t the prettiest of starts, but the Pella High boys basketball team got the job done in a season opening 55-42 victory at North Polk last night.  Earlier in the evening, the Comets led wire-to-wire in knocking off the Pella girls 67-54.  Both games were heard live on 92.1 KRLS.

The Dutch boys team that averaged nearly 70 points per game in their state championship season a year ago sputtered to a 19-15 halftime lead, then built a double digit gap (37-25) by the end of the third quarter and kept North Polk at arms length down the stretch.  Senior Karl Miller led Pella with 21 points and eight rebounds, and said afterwards that it took the Dutch a bit to get going.

“We started off a little shaky as we had to figure a few things out.  We got things rolling a little bit in the second half as we had great ball movement and started hitting shots.”

Miller hit three of his four three-pointers in that pivotal third quarter.  He was the only Dutch scorer in double figures, as Parker Elder and Noah Allen were next up with eight points apiece.  You can hear more from Miller on tonight’s Radio Sports Page at 6:00 on 92.1 KRLS.

In the girls game, North Polk scored the first six points of the game, led by eight at the end of the first quarter and by 15 at halftime.  Pella got it down to 10 with a five point possession early in the third quarter, but never trimmed the deficit to single digits.  Anna Childerston buried five three-pointers and scored 15 points, Mia Warner had an 11 point 10 rebound double-double and Kennedy Van Vark chipped in 10.

The Pella girls fall to 1-1 on the season, while the boys start 1-0.  Both teams will head to Indianola to open Little Hawkeye Conference play on Friday.