A 20-12 fourth quarter margin is what it took for the Dutch boys to overcome Clarke in the Class 3A substate basketball semifinals Thursday, in a game heard live on 92.1 KRLS. Pella finished with a 60-54 score over their South Central Conference opponents.

The teams would tie or trade the lead a dozen times in the opening eight minutes, only for each school to largely own a respective quarter — Pella mostly controlled the 2nd quarter until the final few minutes, while Clarke built a six-point edge in the third.

The home team Dutch found their footing in the 4th quarter, building a nine-point, 51-42 advantage — only for a technical foul to swing momentum to Clarke, who responded with a 8-0 run of their own to make it a one-point edge. However, Pella rallied, and ultimately rebuilt that nine-point lead, only for a buzzer-beating three by the Indians to close the final gap to six.

Pella Head Coach Derek Schulte says his team showed the resolve needed to be a top 16 team and to give themselves the chance to play the state’s best.

“I don’t think this is one where we are going to look at the stats and be overly excited with our assist-to-turnover ratio, they turned us over in that first and that was a big part of this game,” he says. “But what we did do is have a next-play mentality, stayed with it, and all of the sudden we make a run, and they make a run back at us, and ultimately, we were able to respond.

“Teams that have a shot at the state tournament have to play well in the fourth quarter and tonight we outscored them 20-12.”

A trio of Dutch scorers tallied 14 points, including Austin Schulte, Brayden Traetow, and Jack McGuire. Pella has a 2022 substate rematch, as they head to Indianola Monday to take on #8 Winterset. The Huskies defeated the Dutch that year to get to the state tournament. Note, the event on Monday is a 3A substate doubleheader, and Pella is scheduled to compete at 5:30 p.m.