March 29, 2024

Hawk teams dominate visiting Keota Eagles

SULLY — Playing three straight home games in a span of seven days, Lynnville-Sully Hawks’ basketball teams did not disappoint their fans on Friday night.

The Hawk girls showed a steady focus on the court against the visiting Keota Eagles. With a balanced scoring attack with no one scoring in double figures, Lynnville-Sully overwhelmed the Eagles, 58-20.

Lynnville-Sully’s boys powered past the Eagles 79-50 after leading 43-18 at halftime.

With the runaway victories, the Hawk boys and girls stay right in the thick of the South Iowa Cedar League conference races. The Hawk boys are atop the standings at 6-0 in SICL play and 6-1 overall.

Lynnville-Sully’s girls improved to 5-2 in conference action and 7-2 overall. They are third behind conference leaders Sigourney and North Mahaska, who are both tied at 6-0.

The Hawk squads are on the road Tuesday at Sigourney. The girls’ game is at 6 p.m. followed by a 7:30 p.m. tip for the boys’ contest. They finish the first semester at home on Thursday against Tri-County.

On Friday, the Lynnville-Sully girls had no let up in the second quarter like they had in Tuesday’s home win. The Hawks bolted to a 22-3 first-quarter lead and kept going for a 42-7 halftime lead over Keota.

“The girls did a better job of focusing in on the details of the game and working to take away what Keota was trying to do on the defensive end and we rebounded the ball well,” Hawk girls’ head coach Jerry Hulsing said. “On offense, we did a good job of seeing the open areas or girls which led to some good shots. Our execution was better tonight.”

Senior Jataya Meyer and junior Shiloh Cunningham each had nine points. Meyer had five rebounds and two steals.

Janelle Rozendaal, Carson Fisk and Mariah Vos each tossed in eight points. Camyrn Russell had five points and two assists. Krystal Van Dyke added four points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots.

Christine Nikkel had three points, two assists and two steals. Kaylee Maasdam and Mallory Loftus scored two points apiece.

Lynnville-Sully shot 53 percent from the field to Keota’s 22 percent. The Hawk girls held a 30-16 rebounding edge. They forced 22 turnovers.

Addison Sprouse scored seven points for Keota.

After bolting to a 43-18 halftime lead, the Hawk boys kept the pressure on against the Eagles. Lynnville-Sully had a 24-16 run in the third quarter to extend its lead to 67-34 heading into the final eight minutes of play.

“The guys did a great job of executing the game plan,” Hawk boys’ head coach Nick Harthoorn said. “It was fun to watch the boys work together to slow up a good offensive team. Our ball movement continues to improve and our offensive rebound was excellent.”

Senior Jesse Van Wyk and junior Rylan James each had a double-double to lead the Hawks. James had 24 points and 15 rebounds while Van Wyk scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds.

Senior Tanner Foster added 13 points for Lynnville-Sully. Brevin Hansen, another senior, had six assists and nine points on three 3-pointers. Drake Ehresman scored six points and Grant Wehrle had three points.

Lynnville-Sully’s boys shot 47 percent from the field and cashed in on 16-of-22 free throw attempts. The Eagle boys were held to 30 percent field goal shooting.

Keota’s boys were led by Luke Greiner with 14 points.

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