By Sam Parsons
Another edition of the Oskaloosa-Pella rivalry is in the books; last night, both the girls and boys games went the way of the Dutch for the second time this year.
Oskaloosa’s girls entered the game coming off of their worst game of the season; Pella entered as the 9th ranked team in the state in class 4A. The game began with the promise of an easy Pella win: they took a 10 point lead early on, and went into halftime with a 30-16 lead. Pella’s full court defense was once again causing issues for the Indians’ offense as they weren’t able to establish consistent success. Pella senior Kylie Tauke was the main driver of their offense, as she had one of her better shooting performances of the season and finished the game with a team-leading 16 points.
However, the third quarter saw the Indians battle back. They limited Pella’s long distance shooting and were able to break through the press enough times to set up some drives to the bucket for senior Presley Blommers, who finished the night with a team-high 19 points. The Indians drew to within 5 points of the Dutch by the end of the 3rd with the score at 37-32. During the 3rd-4th quarter intermission, though, new life was injected into the Dutch, and they began the 4th quarter by quickly bringing the lead back to double digits. Time worked against Osky and they were unable to bring the game any closer than they had in the 3rd; the game ended with a Pella win, 52-43, to set the Indians back to 8-10 on the season.
The boys game, on the other hand, was all Pella, all the time, but the most impressive stretch of play for the Dutch came in the 3rd quarter. They managed to score 18 points in the span of a little over 4 minutes to begin the second half, which began with them out in front 34-17. Oskaloosa was unable to keep up with Pella on either end of the floor; Waylon Bolibaugh was the lone player on the team to reach double digit points on the night, finishing with a season-high 21. Pella got 15 points out of sophomore Brayden Traetow and a double-double from senior Cam Schulte as they cruised to a 70-46 win, knocking Osky down to 1-15.
The Indians will host another girls and boys doubleheader this Friday (2/3) against Little Hawkeye Conference foe Newton.
