MONTEZUMA — There are no secrets between teams who have played each other twice during the regular season.
Tuesday, Class 1A No. 5 Lynnville-Sully and Colfax-Mingo were meeting for the third time, and there weren’t a lot of surprises on either side.
In the end, a 14-0 run in the second quarter proved to be the difference for the top-seeded Lynnville-Sully, and the Hawks forced 17 turnovers during a 56-39 victory.
“I felt like we were able to turn them over during that stretch,” L-S coach Nick Harthoorn said. “They had done a pretty good job to that point taking care of the basketball, but for whatever reason we were able to get our hands on a few balls and get out and get a few easy ones in transition. That got us going a little bit.”
Led by junior Jesse Van Wyk’s 16 points, five rebounds and three assists, the Hawks won their 18th straight game and will face second-seeded Montezuma in Thursday’s 1A District 11 championship game.
The Braves advanced past North Mahaska in the other semifinal at Montezuma High School Tuesday, winning 47-26 in front of their home fans.
Lynnville-Sully came into the game averaging 67 points per game and outscoring its opponents by nearly 29 points per contest. Colfax-Mingo held its own defensively, holding the Hawks (22-1) to 11 points under their season average. The margin of victory Tuesday also was much less than 29 points.
Ultimately, the Tigerhawks couldn’t overcome the 17 turnovers.
“When they get the turnovers above halfcourt, (Lynnville-Sully) it is even more dangerous,” Colfax-Mingo coach Nick Noring said. “If you make them play defense and grind, they are not very efficient. The guards can steal it quick and score. The 17 turnovers is what ultimately defeated us.”
The Tigerhawks hit their first three shots and led 8-4 during the early stages of the first quarter. A 10-0 run gave the Hawks the lead for good, but Colfax-Mingo got the deficit back to four after eight minutes.
Junior Jarod Nichols converted a bucket inside the lane on the first possession of the second quarter to trim the deficit to 16-14, but the 14-0 spurt for L-S put the Hawks ahead 30-14.
Van Wyk scored three buckets inside the lane during that stretch.
“Our defense started to pick up, and we were able to get layups at the other end because our activity got brought up,” Van Wyk said. “We just stepped it up on defense.”
Noring was called for a technical foul after the 14-0 run, but Van Wyk missed both free throws at the line.
C-M junior Alex Lewis got the hoop and the harm at the other end and then made the free throw to complete the 3-point play. Junior Reegan Van Dyke nailed two free throws after that, but the Tigerhawks still trailed 31-19 at halftime.
“I thought the officials were very inconsistent tonight,” Noring said. “I had to battle for my guys. I usually don’t say much to them, but the phantom calls and the inconsistencies were huge during that time frame.”
The Hawks scored six of the first eight points of the second half to push their lead to 16. Sophomore Rylan James scored back-to-back buckets in that span. James finished with eight points and six rebounds.
Nichols had a 3-point play and then buried a jumper at the end of the fourth quarter, but he fouled Van Wyk on a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left on the clock. Van Wyk made all three freebies to put the Hawks up 44-29 after three quarters.
Nichols was double-teamed all night. The Tigerhawks had trouble getting him the ball, which is not a recipe for success for a team that relies so heavily on their best player. Nichols still finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for his 15th double-double this season.
“We worked really hard on him and he was still effective so that tells you the kind of player he is,” Harthoorn said. “He’s a strong player that can go inside and out. We slowed him down a little bit.”
Van Wyk added, “We knew he would be a load. Our plan was to not let him get the ball and make it as tough as we could on him.”
The best way to counter the double teams being applied to Nichols is Tigerhawk guards hitting shots from outside. That happened in a quarterfinal win over BGM, but the shots didn’t fall against Lynnville-Sully.
“Our guards have to be ready to take one dribble, pull up and hit the shot just so those guys release out into them,” Noring said. “We were able to do that last game and got Jarod the ball. Tonight, we weren’t able to hit the shots from out there and they just packed it in more.
“When we can’t deliver the ball to him, it makes things difficult for us.”
L-S’ advantage in the first, third and fourth quarters combined was nine points. In the second, the Hawks outscored Colfax-Mingo 15-7 to pull away. L-S outscored the Tigerhawks 12-10 in the fourth.
The win for the Hawks was the third this season over Colfax-Mingo. They defeated the Tigerhawks 68-38 on the road before the holiday break in December and then blasted them 78-26 at home in late January.
The difference was much better Tuesday, but two Hawks scored in double-figures and three others scored at least seven points, and then L-S held the Tigerhawks to 34 percent shooting from the floor. The Tigerhawks were 3-of-19 from 3-point range.
Junior Tanner Foster hit three of the Hawks’ four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points and five rebounds, while senior Tyler Van Zante added seven points, four assists and four steals. Junior Brevin Hansen scored seven points and grabbed five boards. Junior Corey McCoy also pulled down five rebounds.
Van Dyke had nine points and eight rebounds for Colfax-Mingo. Freshman Brady Berkey scored six points and junior Jonathan Jacobs dished out three assists.
The Tigerhawks went 10-13 in Noring’s first season as head coach. Most of the roster comes back next season.
“It was a phenomenal first year for us. They love my coaching style and they bought into what I am trying to do,” Noring said. “They know we can be really special next year with so many key guys coming back. The big thing is are we going to put in the time in the offseason and are we going to execute and be ready to go.
“Going 10-13 is pretty good for a first year with so many guys who didn’t have much varsity experience.”
The Hawks face Montezuma in the district final at 7 p.m. Thursday in Newton. The two teams split two games this season with each team winning on the road.
The loss to the Braves (18-5) on Dec. 9 is the Hawks’ only loss this season. L-S rebounded with a 12-point win over Montezuma on Jan. 27.
Colfax-Mingo 12-7-10-10 — 39
Lynnville-Sully 16-15-13-12 — 56
C-M (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — Berkey 3/1-1-1-6, Van Dyke 3/1-4-3-9, Jacobs 0-0-4-0, Koenig 0-3-1-3, Nichols 4-4-3-12, Seebeck 1/1-1-0-4, Lewis 1-1-1-3, Decker 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 11/3-14-14-39.
L-S (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — Hansen 2/1-2-0-7, Van Wyk 5-6-2-16, Van Zante 3-1-2-7, Foster 4/3-1-3-12, James 4-0-3-8, Hofer 2-0-3-4, McCoy 1-0-5-2, Lukehart 0-2-0-2. TOTALS: 20/4-12-20-56.