A dramatic turnaround from a deep early deficit had the Pella girls basketball team earn their first win of the 2024-25 winter with a 66-52 victory over Atlantic Friday night.

A long road trip west seemed to play out early as the home team Trojans burst into the game with a 22-5 first quarter lead. The Dutch worked patiently to dig themselves out of that hole, narrowing the gap to 11 by the halftime break and to six after three quarters. Pella’s signature press defense seemed to finally click in the 4th, and the road team outscored Atlantic 24-4 in the final eight minutes to comfortably cruise to the end in the final few minutes.

Head Coach Blaine Forsythe says their defense wasn’t clicking early and offensively, his Dutch players struggled with the Atlantic zone — but that changed as the contest wore on.

“Our players slowly chipped away at the lead and kept the pressure on in the full court. I am really proud of the way our girls stuck together and adjusted to how the game was being called. Our up tempo style of play wore Atlantic down late in the game and we felt we played our best basketball during the last 12 minutes of the game.”

Maggie Thompson led the Dutch with 14 points and six rebounds, Kamryn Long added 12 points and five assists, and Emerson Wogen added eight points.

The Dutch improve to 1-0 overall and encounter another long road trip on Tuesday, this time to Mount Pleasant.