Playing their first conference games in 21 days, the Pella High basketball teams both beat Newton last night on Senior Night in a doubleheader heard live on KRLS2. The girls rolled to a 69-44 victory while the boys rallied for a 65-58 win.
Newton’s girls scored the first bucket of the night, but Pella forced turnovers on each of the next eight Cardinal possessions and ripped off a 14-0 run to take control, and the game was never in single digits the rest of the way. All told, the Dutch pressured Newton into 39 turnovers. Coach Blaine Forsythe says that it was his seniors leading the way on both ends of the floor.
“We scored 69 points and 47 of them were from our seniors and all of our senior scored. We had 15 assists and all 15 were from seniors and we had 20 steals and 17 of them were from seniors. I was extremely proud of our girls and how all of them contributed.”
Abby Warner led all scorers with 14 points and Kennedy Van Vark added 12. The Dutch improve to 11-3 on the season and 4-1 in the Little Hawkeye Conference.
The boys game was a back and forth affair that saw Newton use an 11-0 first half run to build an 18-8 lead, the largest of the night for either team. While the Dutch went 0-for-9 from the three-point line in the first half, they were able to claw back within 29-25 at halftime.
Cam Rowe was scoreless in the first half and picked up his third foul early in the third quarter. Coach Derek Schulte stuck with the senior, and Rowe rewarded him with back-to-back and-one three-point plays as Pella finally claimed the lead.
“It is a gamble to leave him in at that point, but he defended really well without fouling and took advantage of his offensive ability. We just didn’t want to take him out of the flow of the game and the risk-reward paid off in this one, then we were able to get him a break later. Excellent job by Cam Rowe.”
The Dutch finished the third quarter up 45-43, then the teams traded the lead for the first part of the fourth. Three pointers by Brayden Traetow and Austin Schulte gave Pella a little cushion, and they finished the night 19-of-23 at the free throw line to salt the game away.
Traetow’s 16 was a game high, Jack McGuire added 14 and Luke Hardman ripped down 14 rebounds. The Dutch are now 8-4 overall and 3-2 in the LHC.
Up next for both Pella teams is a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader Monday night at home against Indianola.