SULLY — Two ranked Class 1A girls’ basketball teams had a showdown early in the season on Tuesday as No. 12 Lynnville-Sully hosted No. 9 Montezuma in South Iowa Cedar League play.
“We didn’t match Monte’s intensity tonight. We allowed them to play in space so their size really hurt us,” Lynnville-Sully girls’ head coach Jerry Hulsing said following a 50-25 loss to Montezuma’s Bravettes in a SICL West showdown.
Lynnville-Sully’s boys took up right where they left off a year ago. The Hawks powered past Montezuma’s Braves, 73-43, to open the 2017-18 season.
“We did some nice things on both ends of the floor tonight,” Lynnville-Sully boys’ head coach Nick Harthoorn said. “The guys battled hard on the boards. Rebounding needs to be a strength of this year’s team.”
In the girls’ contest, Lynnville-Sully held an 11-9 lead after one quarter of play. The Bravettes took over from that point, outscoring the Hawks 13-1 for a 22-12 halftime lead.
Montezuma kept its advantage with a 25-6 scoring surge in the third quarter. The Hawk girls finished with a 7-3 advantage in the fourth period.
“Our communication on defense needs to be better, and we have to talk about where shooters are and close out better,” Hulsing said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well at all and we didn’t move the ball quick enough to get really good looks. We need to learn from it and get better.”
Lynnville-Sully’s girls shot a frigid 19 percent, 8-of-42, from the field, hitting one 3-pointer. They sank 8-of-14 free throw attempts.
Junior Shiloh Cunningham’s double-double paced the Hawk girls. Cunningham scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. She also had two steals.
Junior Carson Fisk controlled 13 of the team’s 42 rebounds and scored nine points. Senior Mariah Vos tossed in five points and sophomore Mallory Loftus had one point.
The Hawk girls turned the ball over 20 times and the Bravettes scored 11 points off those miscues. Montezuma had eight turnovers.
Montezuma (2-0) netted 19-of-55 field goal attempts for 34 percent. It went 9-of-27 from 3-point range. The Bravettes sank three of their four free throw tries.
Riley Gatton fired in 15 points, made three steals and had three assists for Montezuma. Elise Bulton scored 12 points, and Shateah Wetering had eight points and eight rebounds. Shelby Helm made three steals.
The boys’ game started out close with Lynnville-Sully holding a 21-13 lead after one quarter. The Hawks went on a 17-3 scoring surge to stretch their lead over the Braves to 39-16 at the break.
Lynnville-Sully outscored Montezuma 16-13 in the third quarter and 19-14 in the fourth period. The Hawks shot 56 percent, 26-of-50, from the field to the Braves’ 31 percent, 17-of-55. Lynnville-Sully hit seven 3-pointers and Montezuma had five treys.
The Hawks went 10-of-16 at the free-throw line while the Braves were 4-of-7. They outrebounded the Braves 39-19.
Senior Jesse Van Wyk led the Hawks with 20 points and six rebounds while senior Brevin Hansen, who netted three treys, added 13 points and made two steals. Junior Tyson Vander Linden had two 3-pointer on his way to 10 points and he dished out four assists.
Recording a double-double was junior Rylan Jams with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Tanner Foster tossed in nine points. Senior Corey McCoy cleared seven rebounds and scored two points.
“We had nice balance offensively. It’s fun to play this game when you share the basketball,” Harthoorn said.
Sophomore Bray Noun Harder had three points for the Hawks. Scoring two points each were seniors Drake Ehresman and Lemper Lukehart and junior Gage Vander Leest.
Montezuma got 19 points from freshman Trey Shearer.
The Lynnville-Sully girls are 2-1 overall and 1-1 in SICL play. Lynnville-Sully’s boys are 1-0 in the SICL and overall. The Hawk teams are on the road in SICL action on Friday against North Mahaska. The girls’ game starts at 6 p.m. followed by the boys’ contest at 7:30 p.m. at New Sharon.
On Saturday, the Lynnville-Sully teams play a non-conference doubleheader against East Marshall with the girls’ tipping off at 4 p.m. and the boys’ game at 6 p.m. in LeGrand.
Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com