By Sam Parsons

The Oskaloosa Indians took part in their first girls and boys basketball action of the new calendar year last night in a highly anticipated rivalry matchup with the Pella Dutch.

The girls game was handled by the Dutch from the early going. The Indians entered the game short-handed; junior Kassie Johnson and freshman Loghan Edgar were both out of the rotation due to ankle injuries, forcing the Indians to make do with only 7 players.

Turnovers continued to plague the Indians as they struggled to move the ball around against Pella’s full court press, which exhausted the Indians and their shallow bench. A pair of backcourt violations and another pair of backcourt time violations were emblematic of the issues the Indians had in a night where little seemed to go their way. Sophomore Dasia Foster had another double-double and senior Presley Blommers put up 14 points, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Indians in the game as they fell 62-42.

The boys game saw a different story arrive at a similar conclusion. The Indians began the game with bountiful energy and a back-and-forth first quarter saw the Indians hold a 16-15 lead. Midway through the second, Osky appeared to be finding their groove, establishing a 26-21 lead over Pella.

It was at this point that disaster struck for Oskaloosa; an 18-0 run by Pella followed, extending into the third quarter. After leading by 5, Osky was outscored 30-7 in roughly the following 12 minutes of action. This massive run by the Dutch, led by the scoring success of players including Luke Hardman and Romon Hugan and consistent winning with regard to rebounds, doomed the Indians and any efforts they made to come back into the game. Those efforts were staved off until the end, with Pella securing the win, 62-44.

The Osky girls fall to 3-5 on the season; the boys are now 1-7. Both squads will venture to Newton this Friday to face the Cardinals in another round of Little Hawkeye Conference hoops.