From the opening tip to the final buzzer, the Pella basketball teams led wire-to-wire in a doubleheader sweep of Knoxville Tuesday, as heard live on KNIA and KRLS. The Dutch boys won 72-60 and the girls were 61-37 winners over the Panthers.

The opener featured the Dutch defense forcing 11 Knoxville turnovers in the first quarter to build a sizeable advantage that grew to 31 points in the 4th quarter. Knoxville Girls Coach Matt Ritchhart told KNIA/KRLS Sports Pella’s pressure wore on his team and forced them to commit a lot of mistakes.

“We thought we had a good game plan for it. It’s difficult to replicate in practice, we even had the scout team boys help us in practice, and when you get down to it, it’s as you said relentless.”

Making her home debut, Sophia Reynolds showcased the skills that earned her All-Little Hawkeye Conference honors in 2022-23, scoring 16 points and nabbing five rebounds. The now-Dutch senior will be featured on Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page.

Pella jumped to a 6-0 lead early and didn’t let go as they pulled away to a 21 point margin late in the 4th quarter of the boys contest. The Dutch forced 10 Knoxville first half turnovers and kept the hot-shooting Panthers from finding a rhythm outside. The Dutch were paced by a 19 point, 11 rebound double-double from Jack McGuire and 17 points from Romon Hugan.

INTERVIEW WITH HUGAN:

Knoxville Freshman Lincoln Norris scored 24 points — 21 of which came in the second half. The Dutch boys are up to 4-3 and the girls are now 7-2; both return to action Friday against Oskaloosa (92.1 KRLS/Pella Dutch Live). The Panthers boys drop to 5-2 and the girls are 4-4, and are off for winter break.