The Pleasantville basketball teams travel to Earlham Tuesday night, where they split a West Central Conference doubleheader heard live on KNIAKRLS.com.

The Trojan girls dropped the opening game of the twinbill 57-38, while a big offensive game from Dayson Leerhoff helped the boys squad pull out a 44-41 victory.

Against a Cardinals squad that entered the contest on a four-game winning streak, the Pleasantville girls dug themselves an early hole trailing 17-9 after the opening quarter. The Trojans kept the deficit to nine points at halftime, after knocking down nine of their 10 free throw attempts in the second quarter. Earlham extended the lead to 44-30 heading into the final quarter, before pulling away with win and extending Pleasantville’s losing skid to five games. Joelle Johnson led the Trojans offensively with 15 points, while Hope DeMan added nine points in the loss.

In the nightcap of the doubleheader, it was a defensive battle between Pleasantville and Earlham. The Cardinals held the lead for most of the first half, pulling in front 10-6 after the first quarter and clinging to 23-20 lead at the intermission. The Trojans found their stride in the second half, using an early 8-2 run to grab a 34-32 lead entering the fourth quarter. In the final period, Pleasantville held Earlham to three of 19 shooting to extend their current winning streak to five games. Dayson Leerhoff had a big game for the Trojans, leading the contest in scoring with 22 points and Trent Jolly added a big eight points, all coming in the second half.

The Pleasantville boys improved to 7-5 overall and 5-4 in the conference, while the girls fell to 5-8 overall and 1-7 in the league. The Trojans’ basketball teams are now off until Friday when they host a West Central Conference doubleheader against West Central Valley.