Hawk squads rout BGM in SICL twin bill

SULLY — Control from the opening tip went to Lynnville-Sully’s girls and boys in Tuesday’s South Iowa Cedar League basketball games against visiting BGM. The Hawk teams posted big first quarters to dominate the Bear squads.

Lynnville-Sully’s girls raced to a 21-0 lead by the end of one quarter. They defeated BGM 53-35. The Hawk boys scored off the tip off on their way to a 22-2 first-quarter run over the Bears en route to a 77-41 victory.

The Hawk girls won their fourth game in a row to improve to a 6-2 overall mark. They are 4-2 in SICL action while the Bear girls fall to 1-4 in conference play and 2-5 overall.

Defense set the tone for the Lynnville-Sully girls. They used pressure to force miscues by the Bears early and often in the first quarter. Lynnville-Sully junior Carson Fisk and senior Mariah Vos led the charge scoring on layups following steals.

Senior point guard Camryn Russell swiped the basketball and went the distance for a layup with 4:57 on the clock. The Hawks were up 11-0. Not much changed the final four minutes of the open quarter as Fisk fired in six more points and senior Jataya Meyer connected for two.

Lynnville-Sully helped create 33 Bear turnovers in the game. The Hawks had 14 steals. They turned the ball over 14 times.

The Hawks scored a basket to begin the second quarter for a 23-0 lead. BGM’s Rylie VanErsvelde rang up a 3-pointer to get the Bears on the scoreboard at the 5:45 mark of the second period.

Lynnville-Sully’s offensive production slowed as BGM outscored the Hawks, 11-8, in the second quarter. Although the Hawks maintained control of the game, they allowed BGM to score at the buzzer, which head coach Jerry Hulsing was not happy about.

The Hawk girls went into the break leading 29-11.

“Our defensive pressure at the beginning was fine, but when we go up by 20 points, we backed it off and went half-court,” Hulsing said. “We let down and didn’t keep that same intensity throughout the ball game. We let them creep right back in it.”

Hulsing said he was pleased with the efforts of his players at both ends of the court in the first quarter. He said the last three quarters, the Hawks relaxed defensively and let BGM move the ball easily, resulting in Lynnville-Sully giving up too many points.

“We stood and watched and didn’t go box-out to get rebounds,” Hulsing said. “We’re scoring points in transition right now. When we get into a half-court game, we struggle. We’re not moving the ball around quick enough and we’re not working as one unit to get good looks at the basket.”

Lynnville-Sully increased its lead to 36-13 in the opening three minutes of the third quarter. BGM was within 15 points, 36-21, with 3:43 left. Fisk had a three-point play a minute later then the Hawks scored at the buzzer for a 43-26 lead.

The Hawks maintained their lead with a 10-9 scoring advantage in the final eight minutes.

“We have to get better in executing our half-court offense,” Hulsing said. “Defensively, we have to keep the intensity level high no matter what type of defense we’re playing. We allowed too many second and third shots tonight.”

The Bears held a 33-31 rebounding advantage over the Hawks.

Lynnville-Sully’s girls shot 38 percent, 24-of-63, from the field. The Bears went 14-of-37 from the field for 37 percent. The Hawks sank 4-of-9 free throw attempts while BGM was 3-of-7 at the free-throw line.

Fisk finished with a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. She also had three steals and two assists. Vos fired in 15 points and dished two assists. Also with two assists apiece were Russell, Meyer and freshman Krystal Van Dyke. Junior Shiloh Cunningham had three steals.

BGM got nine points from Kelsey Lint and seven from Lyla Kriegel.

Right off the tip at center court by senior Jesse Van Wyk, senior Tanner Foster scored the opening bucket of the boys’ game. Senior Brevin Hansen buried a 3-pointer followed by a free throw from Van Wyk. Hansen’s field goal at 5:46 mark had the Hawks up 8-0.

The Bear boys broke onto the scoreboard with a basket by Joe Kasal with five minutes on the clock. It was the only points of the first eight minutes for BGM.

Lynnville-Sully responded with back-to-back treys by Hansen and Van Wyk. The two seniors paced the Hawks as Van Wyk finished with 17 points, going 8-of-11 from the free-throw line, and Hansen tallying 16 points, hitting two of the team’s six 3-pointers.

The Hawks carried a 22-2 lead into the second period. They kept the pressure on at both ends, making drives to the basket and taking away scoring opportunities from the Bears on defense.

Lynnville-Sully had 9-4 run with baskets by Foster and junior Rylan James. James and Van Wyk hit free throws. By the midway point of the quarter, the Hawks led 31-6 and held a 44-11 lead at halftime.

“The guys played a nice first half. Our defensive intensity was solid,” Lynnville-Sully boys’ head coach Nick Harthoorn said. “We are doing a better job of keeping opponents out of the paint on penetration. Offensively we are moving the basketball and getting high percentage shots.”

Harthoorn was able to rotate in every player suited up by the end of the game. The Hawks were up 62-31 at the end of the third quarter and outscored the Bears 15-10 in the fourth period.

Eleven players scored two or more points for the Hawks. They owned a 43-27 rebounding edge. BGM turned the ball over 20 times.

“Our kids off the bench came in and played real hard and did things the right way,” Harthoorn said. “This was an opportunity for those guys to get on the floor and get better. They took advantage of it.”

Lynnville-Sully shot 50 percent, 25-of-50, from the field. The Hawks cashed in on 21-of-36 free throw attempts. BGM was held to 28 percent, 15-of-54, from the field and the Bears went 6-of-14 at the line.

James and junior Gage Vander Leest grabbed six rebounds apiece. Van Wyk and junior Tyson Vander Linden each had three assists. Foster, Van Wyk and senior Kemper Lukehart had two steals apiece.

Noah Beck, who hit two 3-pointers, led the Bears with 11 points. Kyle Doty also drained two treys as he scored eight points.

Lynnville-Sully’s boys are 5-1 overall and 5-0 in SICL play.

The Hawk teams host Keota in conference action at 6 p.m. for the girls and 7:30 p.m. for the boys on Friday.

Girls Game

BGM 0-11-15-9—35

Lynnville-Sully 21-8-14-10—53

Lynnville-Sully (FG/3-pt): Fisk 8-1-1-17, Vos 7-1-0-15, Cunningham 2/1-0-1-7, Van Dyke 3-0-3-6, Meyer 2-0-1-4, Loftus 0-2-0-2, Russell 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 23/1-4-5-53.

BGM (FG/3-pt): Lint 4-1-0-9, Kriegel 3-1-3-7, Van Ersvelde 0/2-0-0-6, Baldwin 0/2-0-0-6, Gritsch 1-1-4-3, Coover 1-0-2-2, Weiss 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 10/4-3-10-35.

Boys Game

BGM 2-9-20-10—41

Lynnville-Sully 22-22-18-15—77

Lynnville-Sully (FG/3-pt): Hansen 5/2-0-0-16, Noun-Harder 0-2-2-2, Van Wyk 3/1-8-1-17, Ehresman 2-1-2-5, Vander Linden 0/2-1-3-7, Foster 4-0-3-8, Vander Leest 1-1-1-3, Wehrle 1-5-07, C. Foster 0-0-1-0, Kuhlmann 1/1-0-1-5, James 2-1-2-5, McCoy 0-2-0-2, Lukehart 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 19/6-21-18-77.

BGM (FG/3-pt); Kasal 1-0-5-2, Beck 2/2-1-0-11, White 0-1-3-1, Maxfield 1-0-2-2, Tibbetts 1-0-1-2, Doty 1/2-0-1-8, Cadden 1-0-3-2, T. Kriegel 0/1-0-0-3, J. Kriegel 1-0-2-2, Rudd 0-2-0-2, Hall 1-0-22, Kilmer 1-2-4-4. TOTALS: 10/5-6-23-41.

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