Two quarters, one in each game, made the difference as the Pella girls and Pella Christian boys each beat their crosstown rivals in front of a capacity crowd at Pella High School last night as heard live on 92.1 KRLS. The Dutch girls won 70-37 while the Eagle boys were victorious 59-54.

It was all Pella in the girls game from the jump, literally, as the Dutch got a layup after winning the opening tip and forced five early Eagles turnovers in racing out to a 14-0 lead.

The onslaught continued as Pella scored a whopping 33 points in the first quarter and opened up a 26 point cushion. While the Eagles played the Dutch to a 9-9 draw in the second quarter, another Pella run stretched the lead past 35 and into continuous clock territory late in the third.

Eleven Pella players scored, led by Kennedy Van Vark’s 12 and Katie Scheckel’s 10. The Dutch are now 9-2 and 3-1 in the Little Hawkeye Conference. Rachel Kacmarynski had an 11-point 10-rebound double-double to lead Pella Christian, who falls to 3-7 overall and 1-3 in the LHC.

The decisive quarter in the boys game was the third. Pella Christian started the game with a 15-8 lead, only to see Pella rip off a 9-0 run and another 11-4 sput to take a 30-23 lead into the half. Tysen DeVries and Dane Geetings had scored just six points combined in the first two quarters, but they erupted for 23 in the third as the Eagles outscored the Dutch 27-8 to take a 50-38 lead.

When Deacon Branderhorst nailed a three-pointer early in the fourth, P.C.’s lead ballooned to 15, but Pella went on another 9-0 run to cut the deficit to just six. The Dutch eventually ran out of time, and the Eagles made just enough of their free throws down the stretch to pull out the victory.

DeVries and Geetings each scored 16 points and Josiah Vos added 11 for the Eagles, who are now 6-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play. Pella is now 6-3 and 2-2 in the LHC. They got 12 points each from Roman Hugan and Jack McGuire, with McGuire grabbing 12 rebounds as well for a double-double.

Up next for P.C. is a home doubleheader against Knoxville Monday night, while Pella is off until Tuesday when they host a doubleheader against Indianola.