Defense keys doubleheader win for Lynnville-Sully

SULLY — Offensively, Lynnville-Sully’s boys sputtered a bit to open Tuesday’s South Iowa Cedar League conference game against the visiting Sigourney Savages. The Hawks utilized their defense to hold the lead early until the offense picked up a bit in the second half.

Lynnville-Sully’s boys nailed down a 49-37 win at home following the Class 1A 11th-ranked Hawk girls notching a 48-32 victory over the Sigourney girls. Lynnville-Sully’s girls are 14-0 overall and 11-0 in SICL play while the L-S boys are 11-1 overall and 8-1 in conference play.

“We had a hard time getting things going on the offensive end, but the guys understand that defense can carry you on nights like tonight,” Lynnville-Sully boys’ head coach Nick Harthoorn said. “We are looking forward to getting back on the floor Friday night.”

The Hawk boys tallied seven points in the first quarter and held the Savages to three. Lynnville-Sully were up 17-12 at the break. The Hawks outscored Sigourney 15-9 in the third period and finished on a 17-16 run in the fourth quarter.

Tyler Van Zante went 5-of-9 from 3-point range to lead all scores with 17 points. Jesse Van Wyk netted two 3-pointers on his way to 16 points for the Hawks. Van Wyk pulled nine rebounds and had three blocked shots.

Lynnville-Sully shot 33 percent, 17-of-52, from the field and Sigourney was a cold 24.5 percent, 12-of-53, from the field. Each team went 7-of-16 from the free-throw line.

Sage Ehresman made five of the Hawks’ eight steals in the game. He dished out five assists, grabbed eight rebounds and scored five points. Kyle Van Dyke had five points and blocked three shots. Rylan James had four points and Canyon Kuhlmann had two points.

Blaine Getter led Sigourney with 12 points. Jordan Albert had 10 points. The Savages owned a 40-31 edge in rebounding.

Lynnville-Sully’s girls doubled up on Sigourney in the first quarter, leading 16-8, after eight minutes of play. The Hawks and Savages each scored eight points in the second period as Lynnville-Sully led 24-16 at halftime.

The Hawk girls kept the Savages at bay with a 13-5 scoring edge in the third period. Sigourney outscored Lynnville-Sully 11-9 in the fourth quarter.

“The girls played pretty well tonight in a physical game,” Lynnville-Sully girls’ head coach Jerry Hulsing said. “I thought we out scrapped a very scrappy team.”

Kasiah Ehresman paced the Hawk girls with 15 points and four steals. Brenna Lanser and Marissa Vos each had a double-double. Lanser scored 14 points and controlled 15 rebounds. Vos tallied 11 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and made three steals.

Makenzy Rozendaal added four points for Lynnville-Sully. Mariah Vos and Haley James had two points apiece.

“When we would slow ourselves down and let the offense work we got some really good looks ,but if we got playing too fast we turned it over,” Hulsing said. “Our defense was really the difference tonight. We didn’t give Sigourney any open looks.”

Lynnville-Sully shot at a 41-percent clip, 15-of-56, from the field. Sigourney went 12-of-45 from the field for 26 percent. The Hawk girls cashed in on 15-of-26 free throw attempts and the Savages were 7-of-18.

Autumn Barthelman scored 11 points and made seven steals for Sigourney.

Lynnville-Sully’s teams take on English Valleys in SICL play Friday at North English.

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