Pella Christian couldn’t hang on to a 12-point lead near the end of the third quarter, and it’s season came to an end last night with a 58-55 overtime loss to Albia in a class 2A boys district basketball final heard live on 92.1 KRLS.
The Eagles trailed by five in the first quarter, but battled back to take a 32-28 lead into the locker room, then put together a 9-0 third quarter run to build a 46-34 lead. Albia scored the last five points of the third quarter and the first five points of the fourth quarter, and neither team led by more than one possession for the rest of the game.
Pella Christian led wire-to-wire despite several charges from Cardinal in the Class 2A boys basketball district semifinals, which was a 76-58 win heard live on 92.1 KRLS Thursday. After a slow start due to turnovers, the Eagles surged to a 15 point lead after scoring 28 in the 2nd quarter. But the Comets answered out of the break with an 8-0 run to start the 3rd, and eventually whittled the P.C. margin to six points. Head Coach J.D. Boer says his Eagles responded when they needed to, and kept the game from ever getting too close to being in doubt, and played well enough down the stretch to pull away against a hot-shooting Cardinal squad.
Pella’s boys basketball team has won the Little Hawkeye Conference championship outright after a 79-59 victory over cross-town rival Pella Christian last night as part of a doubleheader heard live on 92.1 KRLS. Earlier in the night, the Lady Dutch knocked off the Eagle girls 44-40.
In the nightcap, Pella led just 41-39 midway through the fourth quarter, but outscored the Eagles 38-20 the rest of the way, making five three pointers in the third quarter to pull away.
The Little Dutch made five more three-pointers in the fourth quarter to squelch even a threat of a Pella Christian comeback. The win wraps up a 13-1 conference season for coach Derek Schulte’s squad.
The struggles continued for the Pella Christian basketball teams last night at Newton, as the Eagles were swept for a third straight doubleheader. The Cardinals won the girls game 52-44 and the boys game 74-62 in a twinbill heard live on the KRLS2 stream at www.kniakrls.com.
In a see-saw girls game, P.C. jumped out to a seven point first quarter lead, saw Newton pull even at halftime, fell down by nine in the third quarter, then rallied back to a tie early in the fourth quarter. Poor rebounding, bad free throw shooting, foul trouble and injuries finally caught up to the Eagles as Newton pulled away to win by eight. Head Coach Brad Engbers wasn’t making any excuses after the game.
It’s now seven wins in their last eight games for the Pella Christian boys basketball team after an 87-65 win over Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont heard live last night on 92.1 KRLS.
The Rockets were charged with a pregame technical foul, and P.C.’s Levi Schelhaas hit one of two free throws with no time off the clock. From there, the Eagles never trailed, bolting out to a 26-11 lead after the first quarter and 42-25 at halftime.
While E-B-F closed within five in the third quarter, they never got closer than that, and J.D. Boer’s club picked up its fourth straight victory.