A late surge by the home team in the boys game and domination by the Comets girls led North Polk to a doubleheader sweep over the Pella basketball teams, in a twin bill heard on the KRLS2 stream Tuesday. The Pella boys fell 65-60 to the Comets, while the Dutch girls fell to #5 in 4A North Polk by a 60-29 margin.

In their season opener, Pella’s boys fell behind 12-0 in the first five minutes, only to answer with their own 15-0 stretch. The teams would trade the lead or tie 14 times over the rest of the contest, with the Dutch building an nine-point advantage in the 3rd quarter. But the Comets started finding their stride from three-point range, and ultimately pulled away after taking a lead halfway through the final quarter.

Luke Hardman and Brayden Traetow each scored 17 points and Jack McGuire added 10 of his own with eight offensive rebounds.

The girls started in a back-and-forth with North Polk in the opener, keeping the game to a 12-10 deficit late in the 1st quarter. The Comets would then go on a 21-3 run and eventually get the game to a running clock with a 35 point margin in the third quarter.

“I need to do a better job of getting our girls ready to play and feeling confident in our game plan. Credit to North Polk and their execution. They are a top tier team for a reason and they showed that tonight. This is a great learning opportunity for our program as we continue to find out rotations and use our depth. We are looking forward to our next opportunity to grow and come together as a team,” said Head Coach Blaine Forsythe.

Tristan Gordon and Kennedy Van Vark each scored nine for Pella.

Pella’s boys fall to 0-1 and the girls are now 2-1; both open the Little Hawkeye Conference season Friday when they host Norwalk.