Everyone plays, nine score in C-M boys’ blowout win

COLFAX ­— The only things that slowed down Colfax-Mingo senior Colin Lourens on Friday night were a lopsided score and the 35-point continuous clock rule.

Lourens came into the game having scored 57 points in his last two games and was on pace for another 30 against HLV. The Tigerhawk boys basketball team let up off the gas in the third quarter after building a 30-point lead at halftime.

The Tigerhawk senior outscored the Warriors 9-8 in the first quarter and had a 15-11 advantage at halftime, but he barely played in the second half during a 69-22 win in South Iowa Cedar League play.

Lourens scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds and had three steals, while Jacob Lietz added 14 points and five assists as the Tigerhawks won their 10th game of the season.

“The shots are falling and the team is playing well,” Lourens said. “We came together tonight. It’s nice to see everyone playing well. It’s so much more fun this year. There is a lot of energy in the locker room.”

Lourens scored 29 points in a win over North Mahaska on Tuesday and then followed that up with 28 more in a loss to Grand View Christian on Thursday.

He likely could have gone for around that many again, but the continuous clock kicked on when Sean Borts converted a putback to give the home team a 48-12 lead early in the third.

That’s about when Colfax-Mingo coach John Borts took off the full-court press and went to his reserves.

“I am so happy on nights like this that we can get all the guys some quality time,” Borts said. “They work hard in practice to make the team better. Gabe (Simpson) got after it defensively. I am so happy for him and all the kids. It helps team unity when everyone gets to contribute.”

Lourens had nine in the first quarter as C-M led 19-8. He continued to outscore the Warriors at halftime, putting in 15 to help the Tigerhawks lead 41-11 at the break.

The rest of the game was a formality.

“We’ve had a tough journey in the conference that we competed in the last few years,” Borts said. “Now, we are in a conference we can compete better in and I am just happy for the kids to be able to play really well.

“This group of kids deserves the success because they certainly have had to work hard to get it.”

Jared Myers and Borts both buried two 3-pointers and scored eight points, while Jarod Nichols had six points, six rebounds and four steals.

Jonathan Jacobs delivered five of his team-high six assists in the second half and Gabe Simpson’s six points and four steals all came in a fourth quarter that featured five Tigerhawk reserves.

The Tigerhawks (10-5 overall, 9-4 in the SICL) had 21 steals in the win. They committed only nine turnovers at the other end.

HLV (3-12, 3-12) was led by Ben Lahndorf’s 10 points. It was the Warriors’ sixth straight loss.

HLV 8-3-3-8—22

Colfax-Mingo 19-22-19-9—69

HLV (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Thys 3-1-1-7, Coats 0-0-3-0, Lahndorf 4-2-1-10, Toyne 0-0-2-0, Jones 2-1-1-5. Totals 9-4-9-22.

C-M (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Jacobs 1-0-2-2, Myers 3/2-0-4-8, Simpson 2/1-1-1-6, Summy 2-0-1-4, Lewis 0-0-1-0, Lietz 6/1-1-3-14, Borts 3/2-0-0-8, Nichols 3-0-1-6, Lourens 7-5-3-19, N. Deal 0-0-3-0, M. Deal 1-0-0-2. Totals: 28/6-7-20-69.