A long road trek east turned into a split outside of the conference for the Pella basketball teams Saturday, as they took on Fort Madison in a doubleheader heard live on KRLS2. The Dutch girls pulled out a 54-39 win over the previously undefeated Bloodhounds, while boys had a big second half comeback ultimately fall short in a 55-50 loss.

The Dutch girls took an early lead and never trailed to Fort Madison, with a 16-2 run at the end of the 1st quarter into the 2nd that gave the road team a gap that was hard for the home girls to close. Abby Warner finished with 17 points to lead the Dutch, followed by 15 from Kennedy Van Vark. Pella nabbed 10 steals and grabbed 36 rebounds in the effort.

“I am happy with how our players’ battled today and our response to adversity. We were able to mix it up defensively and ultimately that was the difference in the game. It allowed us to go on a few runs with the turnovers we were able to create. Abby provided a huge spark with her defensive energy and ability to finish at the rim,” said Head Coach Blaine Forsythe.

Pella’s boys never found their shooting rhythm — especially with leading scorer Luke Hardman out due to an injury suffered at practice this week, and at one point fell behind by 14 in the first half. But a flurry of steals turned into a massive 19-0 run in the 3rd quarter that gave the Dutch a ten point advantage. But the home team Bloodhounds started to dominate the glass as Pella went 5-of-36 from beyond the arc, and outscored the green and white by a 25-13 margin in the final quarter. Jack McGuire finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Austin Schulte added 13 points and six rebounds.

The Dutch girls improved to 5-2 and next play at Newton on Friday, while the boys are now 1-3 and are off to Fairfield Tuesday.