The topsy-turvy nature of the schedule changed a home doubleheader to another on the road on a Saturday for the Pella Christian basketball teams, who were less than 24 hours removed from tough competition against Norwalk.

But the Eagles hung tough, and swept Oskaloosa in a twin bill heard live on KRLS2, with the girls winning 40-37 and the boys scrapping for a 53-35 victory.

The opener started with a flurry of runs, as neither team could snap lengthy scoring streaks. Pella Christian’s girls defense played one of their best quarters of the season, shutting out Oskaloosa in the 2nd frame. While P.C. kept their rivals at arms length in the 3rd despite the Indians tying the game again at one point, the game got close at the end. Pella Christian hit five of their last six free throws and made a few key stops to flip the script on a heartbreaking loss suffered on the same Oskaloosa gymnasium on December 1st.

Sisters Faith and Rachel Kacmarynski each scored 13 points, with younger sister Rachel adding 12 rebounds for a double-double.

Oskaloosa tried to take advantage of an Eagles boys team that lost in heartbreaking fashion by giving up a 4th quarter lead to Norwalk the night before, and surged ahead to an early lead they would maintain for most of the first quarter. A 2nd quarter that went scoreless for nearly half of the frame turned into fortune for the Eagles, as Oskaloosa committed a goal-tending violation on their own basket, and that spurred a 9-0 run to end the quarter for the #7 in 2A boys from Eagle Lane. Pella Christian overcame poor shooting in the field and the free throw line and led by more than 20 in the 4th quarter.

Bennie Schirz and Tysen DeVries each scored 10 points to lead Pella Christian.

The Eagles girls improve to 5-9 overall and 2-5 in the conference, and the P.C. boys are now 9-3 and 5-2 in league competition. Both host DCG Monday, in a doubleheader that can be heard on KRLS2 and viewed on the Pella Christian YouTube channel.