GRINNELL — Pella Christian’s basketball teams faltered on the road in their season finales Friday night. The Eagles lost in Little Hawkeye Conference action to Grinnell’s Tiger squads.
Grinnell’s girls dealt out a 55-34 setback to the Eagle girls. Pella Christian finished 6-8 for fourth in the conference. They had to turn around to open Class 2A Region 6 playoffs Saturday at home.
The Eagle boys staged a battle with the Tigers. The teams were deadlocked at 27-27 at halftime. The Tigers got the edge on a 19-12 run in the third quarter. Pella Christian made a charge, outscoring Grinnell 17-15, in the final eight minutes but came up short, 61-56.
Pella Christian’s boys ended up sixth in the Little Hawkeye Conference at 4-10. The Eagles (8-13) travel to Albia tonight to play Cardinal of Eldon in Class 2A District 12 playoff action.
In the girls’ game, the Eagles were hanging with the Tigers, down 16-10 at the end of the first quarter. Grinnell went on an 18-8 run in the second period to create space.
“We had a nice start to the game. Late in the first quarter and first part of the second quarter Grinnell got red hot from the three-point line,” PC girls head coach Kevin Van Maanen. “We worked hard, but couldn’t overcome Grinnell’s outside shooting.”
Grinnell netted eight of its 12 3-pointers in the first half. The Tigers were 12-of-32 from beyond the arc.
Tessa Howerzyl fired in 12 points and claimed four rebounds for Pella Christian. Brooke Mitrisan added seven points. Marina Shannon and Autumn Vos each had four points.
Lauren Jungling scored three points. Morgan Anderson and Hannah Beltman each had two points. Beltman blocked five shots.
Pella Christian’s boys got 13 points and four assists from Jason Holwerda. Levi Jungling tossed in 11 points. Jungling and Sebastian Baugh each had three assists. The Eagles hit eight 3-pointers — two each by Baugh, Holwerda, Jungling and Jarred Van Wyk, who had six points.
Baugh scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds. Coltin Collins had seven points. David Kacmarynski scored six points and had four rebounds. Josh Posthuma added two points and made two steals.