It was a bounce-back win for the Lady Dutch, while the Pella boys continued a late-season skid in a trip to Newton for a doubleheader heard live on 92.1 KRLS Friday.

Pella’s girls dominated the Cardinals in a 61-34 win, while a second-half comeback attempt fell short numerous times in the boys’ 68-64 loss.

The Lady Dutch controlled the game from the onset, and only turned the ball over seven times with their main players on the floor, while forcing 13 steals defensively. Head Coach Jerod Garland says that stifling defense fed their transition offense, that attacked the Newton zone efficiently throughout the night.

“We were hoping to get some fast break points and get some turnovers, and try to get that game [going], we’ve been missing that game a little bit with fast break points,” he says. “I felt like we ran the floor a little bit better than we have, we had people running the lanes and pitching the ball up head, and that was really good to see because a big part of how we play the game and our style.”

Pella was paced by a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double from Emily Holterhaus, 15 points and a trio of threes from Chloe Van Vliet, and four steals from Kara Wichhart.

The Little Dutch boys offense was slow to start, and foul trouble and an inability to contain Newton’s Garrett Sturtz was too much to overcome in their loss.

However, despite trailing by 10 at the halftime break, the boys in green had numerous third and fourth quarter comeback attempts fall just short, and foul trouble kept two key players — Nick DeJong and Logan Shetterly, off the floor for the majority of the game.

Ryan Gustafson led the Dutch with 22 points, followed by 16 and three assists from Landon Vander Leest. Newton’s Sturtz finished with 40 points — and was 20/21 from the line.

Pella’s girls improve to 12-7 and 6-6 in conference play, while the boys drop to 10-8 in a three-game losing streak, and 5-7 in the Little Hawkeye. Both teams travel to Oskaloosa Tuesday.