SULLY — Strong second halves propelled Lynnville-Sully’s girls and boys to South Iowa Cedar League basketball victories Tuesday. The Hawks gave their fans at home after several road trips the past week.
Lynnville-Sully’s girls, who are sixth-ranked in Class 1A, rolled up their 15th win of the season. They shook off a pesky North Mahaska club, 51-37, to stay undefeated after leading by just on at halftime.
The Hawk boys were up 19-13 at the break against the Warhawks. Lynnville-Sully outscored North Mahaska 37-22 in the second half to claim a 56-35 victory.
“The first half was a struggle offensively for both teams,” said Nick Harthoorn, Lynnville-Sully boys’ head coach. “We were able to find a rhythm offensively in the third quarter. We were able to create quite a few turnovers with some defensive scramble.”
Kyle Van Dyke paced the Lynnville-Sully boys with 16 points and nine rebounds. Sage Ehresman tossed in 12 points, made four steals and handed out three assists. Jesse Van Wyk was credited with seven of the team’s 20 steals.
Caleb James finished with eight points for the Hawks followed by Tyler Van Zante with seven points and Van Wyk with six. Canyon Kuhlmann had four points and Ben Trettin scored two. Baker Zegers had one point, but pulled down seven rebounds.
The Hawk boys shot 42 percent, 24-of-57, from the field including hitting five 3-pointers. They were 3-of-4 at the free-throw line.
North Mahaska got 12 points from Brant Fleener. Adam Pothoven and Trent Wanders each scored 10 points. The Warhawks were 14-of-37, 38 percent, from the field and hit 4-of-14 free throw attempts.
Lynnville-Sully’s girls had a balanced offensive attack to get them past the Warhawk girls. They had three players score in double figures, but the Hawks shot just 30 percent, 15-of-50., from the field.
The Hawk girls had a 12-11 lead after one quarter and maintained it as each team scored eight points in the second quarter. Lynnville-Sully expanded its 20-19 halftime lead with an 11-8 scoring run in the third period then finished the game by outscoring the Warhawks 20-10 in the final eight minutes.
“We struggled again early to get anything going on offense,” said Jerry Hulsing, Lynnville-Sully girls’ head coach. “Our defense was not as sharp as it needs to be, but in the second half we did a better job. We got out and ran some and started to communicate better on defense.”
Lynnville-Sully’s girls continue to hit more free throws than their opponent attempts in a game. The Hawks cashed in on 17-of-30 attempts while the Warhawks were 6-of-11 at the line. They also held a 48-30 rebounding edge.
Lysandra James topped the scoring list for the Hawk girls with 14 points, plus had nine rebounds. Brenna Lanser had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. She was credited with four assists.
Kasiah Ehresman scored 10 points and had three assists. Marisa Vos tossed in nine points and grabbed eight rebounds. Madison Rasmusson had five points and eight rebounds. Jelissa Rozendaal added three points.
North Mahaska was led by Julia Groenenboom with 25 points and 13 rebounds.
The Lynnville-Sully teams travel to Brooklyn Friday to face the BGM squads in SICL play.
Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com