SIGOURNEY — A showdown in the South Iowa Cedar League conference of two unbeaten girls’ teams lived up to its billing Tuesday night.
The Class 1A 15th-ranked Lynnville-Sully’s girls and hosting Sigourney came into the contest with identical 11-0 overall marks and 8-0 SICL records. One of the teams were going to suffer its first loss of the season — it was Sigourney as the Hawks pulled out a 51-45 win over the Savages.
“What a heck of a game! It was two good teams battling it out, it was a lot of fun to play tonight. The gym was filled with energy,” Lynnville-Sully girls’ head coach Jerry Hulsing said.
Lynnville-Sully’s boys, who are ranked No. 8 in Class 1A, had little trouble with the Sigourney boys, running away from the Savages for a 74-29 victory. The Hawk boys improved to 10-1 on the season and 7-1 in SICL play.
Lynnville-Sully’s girls were locked in a tight game against Sigourney. The Hawks were up 13-12 after one quarter, but trailed the Savages, 26-24 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Hawks had a 10-8 scoring edge as the teams headed into the final eight minutes tied 34-34. Lynnville-Sully outscored Sigourney, 17-11, in the fourth quarter to win.
“The girls really cleaned up our defense in the second half,” Hulsing said. “Sigourney had several long possessions where we were playing defense for 30-45 seconds, and not giving them any looks. I thought we did a better in the second half moving the ball and finishing at the rim.”
Brenna Lanser ripped the nets for 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out five assists and made two steals for the Hawk girls. Carson Fisk scored 12 points and had six rebounds. Mariah Vos and Jelissa Rozendaal each has is rebounds, and Camryn Russell had two steals.
Lynnville-Sully shot 40 percent, 18-of-45, from the field and went 13-of-24 at the free-throw line. Sigourney connected on 14-of-45 field goal attempts for 31 percent. The Savages had six 3-pointers in the game and tossed in 11-of-16 free throw tries.
Sigourney (11-1, 8-1) was led by Autumn Barthelman with 14 points. Leah Carter scored 11 points.
In the boys’ game, the Hawks rolled up an 18-4 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Savages did score in double figures in the second period, but still trailed the Hawks 34-19 at halftime.
Lynnville-Sully’s defense gave up just 10 points in the second half. The Hawks went on a 26-5 run the third quarter and finished with a 14-5 surge in the final period.
“Our defensive energy was good tonight. That got us going offensively,” Lynnville-Sully boys’ head coach Nick Harthoorn said. “We were able to get a lot of good shots and convert them at a high percentage.”
Lynnville-Sully shot 58.5 percent, 31-of-53, from the field and sank 10-of-13 charity attempts. Sigourney was held to 29 percent, 11-of-38, from the field and downed 5-of-8 free throw tries.
Brevin Hansen paced the Hawks with 17 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Jesse Van Wyk tossed in 10 points and controlled six rebounds.
Tanner Foster scored 13 points and Rylan James added 12 points. Tyler Van Zante dished out five assist and made three steals.
For the Savages, Dustin Haines was the top scorer with eight points. Brady Powers had seven points.
The Lynnville-Sully girls (12-0, 9-0) and boys (10-1, 7-1) play at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively, on Friday in a SICL doubleheader against English Valleys.
Girls’ Game
Lynnville-Sully 13-11-10-17—51
Sigourney 12-14-8-11—45
Lynnville-Sully (FG/3-pt): Lanser 4/1-5-3-16, Fisk 4-4-0-12, Vos 4-0-3-8, Russell 1/1-2-27, Rozendaal 2-2-5-6, Meyer 1-0-0-2, Scandridge 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 16/2-13-14-51.
Sigourney (FG/3-pt): A. Barthelman 3/2-2-4-14, Carter 3/1-2-0-11, Waechter 1/1-2-4-7, S. Barthelman 0/2-1-4-7, Ohland 1-1-5-3, Magill 0-3-0-3, Stahr 0-0-3-0. TOTALS: 8/6-11-20-45
Boys’ Game
Lynnville-Sully 18-16-26-14—74
Sigourney 4-15-5-5—29
Lynnville-Sully (FG/3-pt): Hansen 6/1-2-2-17, Van Wyk 5-0-0-10, Van Zante 1-0-1-2, Vander Linden 2-3-0-7, Foster 5/1-0-2-13, Hofer 2-1-0-5, Trettin 2-0-0-4, James 4-4-1-12, McCoy 1-0-1-2, Lukehart 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 29/2-10-8-74.
Sigourney (FG/3-pt): Haines 2/1-1-1-8, W. Magill 0-2-2-2, Bell 0-0-1-0, Powers 1/1-2-1-7, S. Magill 2-0-2-4, Baumert 2-0-1-4, Weber 2-0-2-4. TOTALS: 9/2-5-10-29.