A wild second-half rally for the Pella Dutch earned them a late lead and a near-upset over #8 in 3A Waverly-Shell Rock, but an ice cold offensive performance in the final minutes of the boys basketball substate semifinals ended the winter sports season for the green and white, as heard live on 92.1 KRLS Thursday.

Pella fell to the Go-Hawks 62-56 in the round of 32 Class 3A boys basketball playoffs. The Dutch started the game with purpose, and near the midway point of the first quarter, grew a 15-9 lead over Waverly-Shell Rock. But one of the state’s best scoring offenses was steady, and flipped the game on its head by outscoring the Dutch 31-15 over the next 11 minutes into halftime.

The home team earned an opening three-point play to start the 3rd quarter, and the Dutch were in danger of falling in runaway fashion. But Pella’s defense intensified, and forced eight third quarter turnovers to pull the contest to within two by the start of the 4th. That rally continued — fueled in large part by seniors Trey Van Hauen and Cam Schulte, and allowed Pella to take a 56-51 lead with 3:23 remaining in regulation.

But that was all the scoring the Dutch had left in them — and despite holding the Go-Hawks to just one field goal for the remainder of the game, the 8th ranked team in Class 3A earned victory at the foul line, hitting 9-of-10 free throws in the final minutes to take the final advantage and end Pella’s season.

The Dutch were led by 14 points from Van Hauen and a 14-point, 10 rebound double-double from Schulte. Brayden Traetow scored 10 of his 13 points in the 3rd quarter rally.

Pella finishes the 2023 campaign at 13-10 overall and says farewell to six seniors.