The Pella High boys basketball team won the third state championship in program history with a 68-59 win over Ballard at Wells Fargo Arena last night in a game heard live on 92.1 KRLS.

The top-ranked Bombers only led once in the game, 1-0, but it was a tight battle throughout with Pella leading by exactly four points at the end of the first, second and third quarters.  It was still just a three-point game when the Little Dutch used their patented three-point game to create some separation.

A Noah Allen three-pointer gave Pella a 59-53 lead, and the Little Dutch made just enough free throws down the stretch to ice their first state title in 18 years.  Coach Derek Schulte says that it was a bit of an unexpected story that continued to be written last night.

“The story of our team coming into this year was our offense, but I think this three game stretch was really about our defense.  It was fun to be able to play an up-tempo style tonight again, but we dug in.  We held them to 36% shooting, we battled on the boards, and while it wasn’t perfect we battled against their size.  And we outscored them 28-18 in the paint.”

Allen was Pella’s leading scorer with 19 points off the bench.  All-tournament team captain Grant Nelson scored 15, all-tournament team member Karl Miller added 14 and Parker Elder chipped in 12.

The Little Dutch finish the season with a record of 25-2 and will add the state championship trophy next to the 2002 and 2003 titles also won by the Dutch.

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