Pella’s girls basketball team overcame key injuries to return to the win column for the first time in weeks while the boys continued their mid-to-late season surge with a sweep on Newton on Friday, as heard on 92.1 KRLS.

The Dutch girls won 45-32 and the boys surged to a 72-51 victory. In the opener, a returning Jenna Oltman had to leave early due to reaggravating an injury and Katie Scheckel didn’t dress to compete, so a shorthanded team was working to navigate a few new rotations. Head Coach Blaine Forsythe says their defense remained strong, which was key in hanging on for the team’s first win since January 14th.

“We are proud of the way that our players shared the basketball and executed on the defensive end. We had a number of girls step up across the board. This win says a lot about the character of our players after our stretch of ranked opponents.”

Kamryn Long and Emma Walkup paced Pella with 11 points each.

The Dutch boys led wire-to-wire and dominated the Cardinals, who gave a scare in the December 20th matchup before the break. Pella’s balanced attack was fueled by a 20-7 rebounding advantage in the first half. Jack McGuire and Griffin Simpson each scored 14 points and Austin Schulte added ten as all 15 available Dutch players dressed were able to compete.

Pella’s girls are now 12-6 overall and 5-3 in the conference, while the boys have won seven of their last eight games to improve to 11-5 overall and 6-2 against league opponents. The Dutch next welcome Oskaloosa to the Tulip City for a doubleheader on Tuesday.