Competing for the second time in as many days, the Pella Christian basketball teams were swept by Dallas Center-Grimes in a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader heard live on 92.1 KRLS Tuesday night. The Eagle girls fell in the opening game of the twin bill 65-27, while the boys dropped their contest 56-43.
The Pella Christian girls hung tough with the Class 4A #6 Mustangs early in the contest, holding a 6-5 lead at the 4:34 mark of the first period. DCG responded with a 9-0 run to end the quarter however, putting the Eagles in a 14-6 hole heading into the second quarter. The Mustangs continued to stretch their advantage from there, pulling ahead 33-15 at halftime, 49-21 at the end of the third quarter, and finishing the game with a 16-6 fourth quarter advantage to secure the win. Faith Kacmarynski was the lone Pella Christian player to reach double figures, matching her season-highs of 14 points and four made three-pointers.
The Eagle boys also held the early lead in the nightcap, jumping out to a 6-3 advantage at the 4:38 mark of the opening quarter, but the DCG boys answered with a 12-0 run to end the first period with a 15-6 lead. The Mustangs grew the advantage to as much as 14 in the second quarter, but the Eagles continued to battle and cut the deficit down to seven at halftime on a Deacon Branderhorst three-pointer. The two teams traded baskets for most of the second half, but DCG held their lead between 6-12 points for most of the final 16 minutes of play, before using late game free throws to finish off the 13-point win. Branderhorst led the way offensively for Pella Christian with 15 points, while Cooper Spronk added eight points. Head coach Marv Van Wyk said he was pleased with his team’s effort in the third game in five days.
“It can take a toll physically and mentally on anybody, and I thought our guys came out strong right at the start and continued to battle hard. We made mistakes that certainly hurt, but I couldn’t fault their effort at all on both ends of the floor. We tried to be strong with the ball on the offensive end, and I felt like we did a good job with the game plan on the defensive end without having any practice to work on it. I saw a lot of good things, so we’re going to continue to work and get better.”
The Eagle girls fell to 5-8 overall and 0-5 in conference action, while the boys dropped to 4-7 overall and 1-4 in league play. The Pella Christian basketball teams will get two days to rest up and practice before their next games on Friday night at Indianola.