PELLA — Pella Christian’s Eagles split a home doubleheader against Norwalk Friday night in Little Hawkeye Conference play. The Eagle girls toppled Norwalk, 46-37, while the Eagle boys lost to the Warriors, 62-55.
Pella Christian’s boys were able to get the sour taste of the loss out of their mouths Saturday in non-conference play at North Polk. The Eagles captured a 72-60 win to improve to 6-5 overall and snap a two-game losing streak.
On Tuesday, Pella Christian’s teams go to Knoxville in conference play.
In Friday’s LHC matchup, the Eagle girls used a 16-6 run in the second period to break an 11-11 tie. They were up by 10 points at halftime, but Norwalk out-scored Pella Christian 8-3 to close the gap to five, 30-25, after three quarters. The Eagles poured in 16 points in the final eight minutes while holding the Warriors to 12 points.
“Our girls played hard and well tonight,” said Kevin Van Maanen, PC girls’ head coach. “We played aggressively and rebounded the ball well. My three guards, Lauren, Tessa, and Brooke really had a great game for us.”
Lauren Jungling and Tessa Howerzyl each fired in 14 points while Brooke Mitrisin added 13 points. Each one hit two 3-pointers for the Eagles, who shot 40 percent, 12-of-30, from the field.
At the free-throw line, the Eagle girls sank 16-of-21 attempts while the Warrior girls were 15-of-24.
Hannah Beltman collected six of the team’s 22 rebounds, blocked five shots, and made three steals for the Eagles. Howerzyl swiped the basketball four times and handed out three assists.
Tori VanVelzen scored 14 points for Norwalk.
PELLA CHRISTIAN’S boys played a close first half against Norwalk. The Eagles were down 29-26 at halftime. The Warriors extended their lead with a 14-7 run in the third quarter and held off a late charge by the Eagles.
Sebastian Baugh was 5-of-8 from behind the three-point arc to lead the Eagles with 27 points. Coltin Collins had seven rebounds while Levi Jungling made three steals, and dished out three assists.
Norwalk got 17 points from Michael Giestler, 12 from Baylee Steele and 10 from Austin Lavelle.
The Eagle boys turned around and travelled to Alleman Saturday to play North Polk’s Comets. They were blazing hot from the field, shooting 61 percent (25-of-41), and cashed in on 20-of-28 tries from the free-throw line. They owned a 28-18 rebounding edge.
All that translated into a 72-60 win on the road over the Comets.
Pella Christian opened with a 17-9 lead after one quarter and never let up. North Polk made a second-half run, but the Eagles responded in kind for the victory.
The Eagles did it with a balanced scoring attack led by Jungling and Nate Haveman with 13 points each. Jared VanWyk added 12 followed by Coltin Collins with 11 and Josh Posthuma with 10 points.
Haveman pulled down eight rebounds. Baugh and Collins each had four assists.
North Polk was led by Blake Brauer with 18 points.
