It was a Homecoming basketball split for the Pella Christian basketball teams in front of a packed home crowd Friday on Eagle Lane, in a doubleheader heard on KRLS2. Pella Christian’s girls hung tough with #8 in 3A Grinnell in a 47-35 loss, while the Eagles boys rallied in the 2nd half to win 64-52.

Pella Christian’s boys found themselves in a relatively early hole, as the Tigers offense came out of the gates firing, nabbing at one point a 20-11 lead late in the 1st quarter. The Eagles closed that gap with a 7-0 run before the end of the 1st and eventually earned the lead, only to lose it just before the half. The Tigers again found momentum in the 3rd quarter, expanding to a seven-point advantage, lasting until outside shots started falling from a combination of Jack Fancher, Lincoln Vander Molen, and Aiden Stoltz. Pella Christian’s defense tightened as well, holding the road team off of the scoreboard for a six-plus minute stretch.

Tysen DeVries finished with 15 points to lead the Eagles, followed by 13 from Dane Geetings and 12 from Stoltz.

Once again a heavy underdog, the Pella Christian girls didn’t allow the high octane Tigers girls attack to run wild, staying even with Grinnell in rebounding and turnover margin for most of the opener. The difference for P.C. was Grinnell did hit several outside shots, but the Eagles defense was otherwise solid and prevented the blowout — pulling a 19-point 3rd quarter deficit to within 11 late in the 4th.

Faith Kacmarynski paced the Pella Christian girls with a 15 point performance — 11 of which came during the 2nd half.

Pella Christian’s boys improve to 11-5 overall and 5-4 in conference competition; the girls fall to 3-15 and 1-8 against league foes, and both are back in action Tuesday at home against Newton.