On the verge of being blown out,
Pella refused to fold.
Then the Dutch got rolling and
they couldn't be stopped.
Top-ranked Pella hit No. 11
Marion with a 32-3 second-half run and stormed into the Class 3A championship
game with a 75-63 victory Thursday night.
The Dutch will take a 25-1 record
and a lot of momentum into Saturday's 6 p.m. final. It will be the first
appearance in the title game for Pella, which is in the tournament for the
seventh time.
Balance and strong inside play
carried the Dutch, who shot 67 percent in the second half and were almost
perfect in the fourth quarter, making 12 of 13 shots.
Jenny Dorman led the way with 22
points and Brooke Gritters scored 17 on 7-for-10 shooting. Then there was Haley
Brillhart, who did a little of everything. Brillhart scored 13 points, grabbed
seven rebounds, handed out four assists, made four steals and blocked three
shots. And for good measure, she made a 3-pointer.
Brillhart, a 6-foot center and a
two-time all-state volleyball player, was so effective that she even led a fast
break, which she ended by dishing to Dorman for a layup.
Brittany Fish hit five 3-pointers
for Marion and led the Indians (21-3) with 17 points. Morgan Paige, an
impressive-looking sophomore, added 16 points, seven assists and three steals.
Sam Rinehart also scored 16 for Marion.
Marion had things going its way
for much of the game. The Indians led by as many as 13 points in the first
half, saw their lead cut to four at halftime, then began the second half with a
10-2 run to go up 47-35 on Fish's 3-pointer from the left corner with 4:15 left
in the quarter.
But Marion would go almost eight
minutes before making another basket and Pella took off. The Dutch scored on
putbacks, fastbreak layups, driving shots and jumpers. When Gritters drove
across the lane, turned sideways and threw in an off-balance shot, it was
obvious everything was going well for the Dutch.
The big run gave Pella a 67-50
lead with less than two minutes to play, too much for Marion to overcome.