The class 2A #8 Pella Christian boys basketball team rallied from a double digit first quarter deficit to knock off class 3A #14 Newton 54-41 on the road last night in the nightcap of a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader that was broadcast on the KRLS2 stream at www.kniakrls.com.  In the opener, the Cardinal girls beat P.C. 30-24.

Newton’s boys forced six Pella Christian turnovers in opening up a 19-7 first quarter lead.  Then the Eagles got hot from the outside, with Levi Schelhaas burying three second quarter three-pointers as P.C. cut the deficit to 24-22 at halftime.  Pella Christian outscored the Cardinals 21-9 in the third quarter to take control as Coach J.D. Boer went to his bench for a spark, and they delivered with a decisive run.

“We’ve got guys who can play down there.  They do some nice things and they play their role very well.  We went to pressure into our zone and got Newton off balance and got some steals.  Then at that point, you could feel the momentum building and we had a couple of big plays with some threes and a big dunk from Eric (Mulder).  Anytime you can do that on the road in this conference it’s a good outcome for us.”

Schelhaas and Eric Mulder led the way with 15 points, and Mulder added 10 rebounds for a double-double.  The Eagles are now 7-2 on the season and 3-2 in LHC play.

Pella Christian’s girls held a 20-15 third quarter lead, but Newton ripped off a 13-0 run to open up an eight point fourth quarter advantage that they never relinquished.  Joslyn Terpstra scored 13 points and Faith Kacmarynski grabbed 12 rebounds.  The Eagles are 2-8 and 0-5 in the league.

Up next for both P.C. clubs is a non-conference matchup with Knoxville Monday night on Eagle Lane.