Photo Courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

The Pella Christian basketball teams wrapped up competition for the semester Monday night, as the boys upset Class 2A #6 ranked Wilton 61-56 while the girls fell to North Mahaska 44-38.

In Wilton, the Eagles’ boys grabbed the early momentum in the game to grab the advantage at the end of the first quarter 14-12. The Beavers and senior post Caden Kirkman, who entered the game averaging 32.6 points per game, got things going in the second period to take a 28-22 lead into the intermission. Pella Christian again outscored Wilton in the third quarter, 19-14, but still trailed by one entering the fourth. The Eagles closed the game out strong, regaining the lead 54-52 with 1:30 left in the game, and knocked down several key free throws down the stretch to pull off the upset. Tysen De Vries had a big night for Pella Christian, pouring in a team high 20 points. Lincoln Vander Molen added nine points in the win.

The Pella Christian girls hung tight with North Mahaska throughout the night. While the Warhawks grabbed a 12-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Eagles outscored them 10-8 in the third quarter and 13-12 in the fourth quarter. The difference in the hard-fought game was the second quarter. North Mahaska held the advantage 12-4 in the second period, which was enough to hold off Pella Christian. Joslyn Terpstra led the Eagles offensively with 17 points, while Faith Kacmarynski added 11 points in the loss.

The Pella Christian boys improved to 4-2 overall, while the girls record fell to 1-7 overall. Both the Eagles basketball teams are off until after Christmas break, and will resume competition on Tuesday, January 3rd with a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader at Newton.