In a game that featured 37 fouls, 46 turnovers and 52 free throws, Pella’s girls basketball team survived a Class 4A opening round regional matchup against Waterloo East last night, 64-51. It was broadcast live on 92.1 KRLS.

The Dutch took an 8-4 lead after a cold-shooting first quarter, then built a 25-18 halftime advantage before things were slowed to a crawl in the second half. The turning point came in the middle of the third quarter with Pella holding a 28-25 lead. The Trojans missed a pair of game tying three-pointers, then sandwiched two fouls around a uniform-violation technical foul, giving Pella six free throw attempts on one possession. They made them all, grabbing a nine point cushion, then never looked back.

“It wasn’t pretty, but at this point of the season you find ways to win and you’re happy with the W no matter how big the point spread or how small”, said Dutch coach Blaine Forsythe after the first postseason victory of his young career. “I’m really proud of our girls for pulling out the victory. We hit some free throws down the stretch, which was good, and even though we couldn’t get into a rhythm in the second half because of all the fouls, we found a way to win.”

Anna Vander Waal was Pella’s only double figurer scorer with 13 points, but a total of seven Dutch players tallied six points or more. Reagan Van Wyk snagged a team-high eight rebounds.

Pella improves to 13-9 on the season and will face a familiar foe in the second round when they travel to Grinnell Saturday night. The Tigers swept the Dutch during the regular season.