Pella got the better of Indianola last night in a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader, winning the girls game 60-47 and the boys game 70-43 as heard live on 92.1 KRLS and 94.3 KNIA.

The Dutch girls bolted out to a 10-0 lead as they held the Indians scoreless for the first 5:16 of the contest. But Indianola slowly chipped away, pulling within 13-8 at the end of the first quarter and 28-27 at halftime before taking their only lead of the game on the first basket of the third quarter.

Pella responded by outscoring the Indians 16-9 the remainder of the third quarter, and won the fourth quarter by an identical score. Coach Blaine Forsythe credited his girls for executing in-game adjustments on their way to victory.

“I thought coach Jansen did a great job with our press breaker and throwing some junk defense at us, but our girls responded really well. With this four game week, it’s all about getting wins, whether it’s ugly or not. We were just really happy we were able to come out with a win”.

Tristan Gordon’s 15 points led all scorers and Kennedy Van Vark added 10 for the Dutch, who improve to 12-3 overall and 5-1 in the LHC. Indianola got 10 points from Alexa Guyer and a near double-double with 9 points and 11 rebounds from Madison Grover as they fall to 5-12 and 5-4.

Indianola’s boys surprised Pella by jumping out to an 8-2 lead, and didn’t allow the green-and-white to jump ahead until 15-14 early in the second quarter. The Dutch outscored the Indians 55-29 the rest of the way as Derek Schulte’s club cruised to the win.

“We held them to a single digit quarter in that second quarter, and once our defensive energy, intensity and focus picked up, the rest of our game did as well. It was nice to see us play physical defensively in that second quarter to turn the tide, and it was just kind of a slow gain offensively. We were efficient in terms of shooting better than 50-percent from the field and took advantage of some good opportunities”.

Jack McGuire scored 16 points to pace Pella, Cameron Rowe added 12 and Austin Schulte chipped in 10. George Blake, making the first start of his career, scored 11 for Indianola. The Dutch are 9-4 and 4-2 in the conference while Indianola is 1-13 and 1-8.

All four teams turn around and play again tonight, with Pella traveling to Oskaloosa for a doubleheader on 92.1 KRLS and Indianola paying a visit to Waukee.