Hawks to utilize inside-outside game

Opponents will have to cope with the inside-outside offensive power of Lynnville-Sully’s Hawks in the 2015-16 basketball season. The Hawk boys have a strong inside presence in 6-foot-5 senior Kyle Van Dyke and three outside shooters with range to hit from beyond the 3-point arc.

Lynnville-Sully head coach Nick Harthoorn enters his ninth season guiding the Hawks with a career coaching record of 151 wins and 43 losses. Harthoorn said the team graduated five seniors from last year’s 18-6 squad.

“I am excited about the group we have out this season,” he said. “The guys are looking forward to the year, and are ready to step into some of those roles we have to fill. We only have three seniors on the team this season, but they can provide the leadership this team needs.”

Van Dyke and senior guards Sage Ehresman and Canyon Kuhlmann are back long with junior guards Tyler Van Zante and John Trettin and sophomore forward Jesse Van Wyk.

Harthoorn said he expects juniors Ryan Hofer and Quentin Thompson and freshman Rylan James to provide depth at forwards. Corey McCoy is post player and Elijah Collins is a guard, both are sophomore who are vying for varsity playing time.

The Hawks went 15-5 in SICL action, finishing third. Harthoorn said the SICL appears to be a strong conference again this season. With the addition of Colfax-Mingo this season, there are 12 schools in the conference.

“This is the first year we will be split into divisions — east and west. We will play everyone in our division twice and everyone in the other division once,” Harthoorn said. “We look forward to the competition our conference provides.”

Van Dyke is a force in the paint for the Hawks. He gained first-team all-conference honors after leading the Lynnville-Sully boys in scoring, rebounds and blocked shots last year. Van Dyke had 60 blocked shots, which was fourth-best in Class 1A.

Van Dyke scored 300 points and grabbed 216 rebounds. He shot 59 percent, 133-of-226, from the field and sank 34-of-51 free throw attempts for 67 percent. He finished with 20 assists and 34 steals.

Van Dyke also earned Class 1A All-Substate 5 honors. There were 19 teams in the substate and Van Dyke was one of eight players named to the elite team.

Ehresman was the team’s third-leading scorer with 189 points this season. He was third in rebounding also with 81 rebounds. He had 36 assists and 34 steals. Ehresman shot 37 percent, 74-of-201, from the field. He connected on 17-of-59 3-point field goal attempts for 29 percent. Ehresman sank 24-of-50 free throw attempts for 48 percent.

Van Zante scored 155 points last year, had 75 rebounds, 29 assists and 22 steals. He shot 31 percent, 38-of-121, from 3-point range. Van Wyk put in 116 points, pulled down 91 rebounds, dished out 39 assists and had 24 steals.

Trettin, Kuhlmann and Hofer saw limited varsity action. Trettin scored 39 points and had 40 rebounds while Kuhlmann had 32 points, 22 rebounds and 21 assists.

Lynnville-Sully opens the season Tuesday at BGM then plays at North Mahaska Friday. The Hawks play three of their five remaining games in December at home starting Saturday against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com