KNOXVILLE — Lynnville-Sully’s Hawks and the Sigourney Savages entered Thursday’s Class 1A District 10 championship game at 1-1 when facing each other this season. The two South Iowa Cedar League teams had split their conference basketball games.
More was on the line Thursday — a district championship and a place in the Class 1A Substate 5 championship game.
The Savages pulled out a 61-53 win over the Hawks at Knoxville High School. Lynnville-Sully ended the 2014-15 season at 18-6.
“Sigourney had a role player step up and really hurt us tonight,” said Nick Harthoorn, Lynnville-Sully head coach. “We got down double figures in the third quarter, but the guys never quit. This group has been resilient all year long. We got it back to within four points. It just wasn’t quite enough.”
That role player leading the Savages was senior Colby Kerkove, who averages 5.8 points a game. Kerkove scored 24 points for Sigourney, hitting four 3-pointers.
Sigourney pushed out to a 16-9 first-quarter lead. Each team added 14 points to the scoreboard in the second quarter, but Lynnville-Sully trailed 30-23 at the break.
The Savages used a 10-6 run in the third quarter to hold a 40-29 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Hawks kept battling, pouring in 24 points in the final eight minutes. Unfortunately, Sigourney stayed the course with 21 points to claim the win.
Lynnville-Sully shot 41 percent, 23-of-56, from the field while Sigourney connected on 23-of-47 for 49 percent. At the free-throw line, the Savages sank 9-of-16 attempts and the Hawks went 2-of-8.
Junior Kyle Van Dyke scored 15 points and grabbed nine of the Hawks’ 23 rebounds. Senior Jake Brand and junior Sage Ehresman each scored 13 points. Ehresman made four steals.
Senior Ben Trettin scored 10 points and dished out four assists. Seniors Caleb James and Baker Zegers played their final game for Lynnville-Sully.
Along with Kerkove’s 24 points, junior Matus Stevko scored 19 points for Sigourney. Junior Blaine Gretter had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Savages.
Sigourney (18-5) plays second-ranked Danville (24-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Class 1A Substate 5 championship game at Fairfield. The winner advances to the Class 1A state tournament, March 9-14, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
Lynnville-Sully 9-14-6-24—53
Sigourney 16-14-10-21—61
Lynnville-Sully (FG/3-pt): Van Zante 0-0-1-0, Trettin 2/2-0-2-10, Brand 3/2-1-1-13, Ehresman 5/1-0-4-13, James 0-0-2-0, Zegers 0-0-1-0, Van Wyk 1-0-1-2, Van Dyke 7-1-2-15. TOTALS: 18/5-2-14-53.
Sigourney (FG/3-pt): Powers 1/1-2-4-7, Albert 1-0-1-2, Gretter 3/1-1-3-10, Stevko 6/1-4-3-19, Kerkove 5/4-2-2-24.
Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com