The first girls/boys doubleheader of the season for Pleasantville’s basketball squads is tonight as the Trojans square off against Marion County foe Melcher-Dallas.

The Trojans’ girls are coming into this matchup after splitting their first two games of the season, beating Saydel and losing to Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in their last matchup. Pleasantville has been operating without their starting point guard, Rachel Harvey. Harvey is a game-time decision for tonight. Melcher-Dallas is searching for their first win of the season after dropping their opener to Wayne last Tuesday. The Saints struggled to put points on the board, scoring just 18 points in the opener. When these two teams met last season, Pleasantville pulled away with a 47-33 victory.

The Trojans’ and Saints’ boys will open the season against each other for the second consecutive season. Pleasantville is returning two starters from last season, who are two of their leading scorers, Mason Scheve and Taylon Mount. Melcher-Dallas is returning one starter from last season, who is their leading rebounder, Owen Suntken. When the two teams met last season, Pleasantville used a dominant second half to pull away, 57-36. Trojans’ coach Tom Wilkins tells KNIA Sports that despite beating them last season, it is important for his team to get a fast start.

“I think we got lucky enough to come out and score the first 17 points of the second half and extend the lead from five to 22. But we got to come out and play well together. We got a lot of pieces, but how are those pieces going to gel together in a game situation?”

The doubleheader begins with the girls’ game tipping off at 6:00 PM. The doubleheader will be broadcast on the KRLS3 stream at kniakrls.com with Alex Koch on the call.