Hawks sweep BGM in conference showdowns

SULLY — Two games, two completely different contests, but both resulted in the same outcome — wins for the Lynnville-Sully basketball teams. The Hawks came away with a 34-32 victory over BGM in girls basketball, having to make a fourth-quarter rally. While in the boys matchup, Lynnville-Sully withstood a BGM rally and used a fourth-quarter push to secure a 69-53 win over the Bears. In the girls game, Lynnville-Sully was just 9-of-22 at the free-throw line, 1-of-11 on 3-pointers and shot 30 percent from the field, but somehow, some way, Lynnville-Sully came away with the victory. “It was ugly and we didn’t execute very well offensively,” L-S girls coach Jerry Hulsing said. “We had several breakdowns defensively, but somehow we kept hanging around and we hit enough free throws — one or two — to get the win and pull it out.” The Hawks (9-3, 9-2) took the largest lead of the game for both teams with a Tara Van Rees 3-pointer early in the second quarter, making the score 11-6. But four lead changes and two ties later, the Hawks found themselves clinging to a 24-22 lead entering the fourth quarter. BGM tied the score two more times in the fourth quarter before Lynnville-Sully took the lead for good on a Brianna James shot inside. James’ shot gave the Hawks a 28-26 lead and a Tessa Engle fastbreak layup made it a four-point advantage with 3:36 to go. With less than three minutes to go, BGM had its chances. The Bears missed four shots to tie or take the lead, missed three free throws and had a turnover. Lynnville-Sully didn’t help its cause, either, making 6-of-14 free throws in the fourth quarter and just 3-of-8 in the final minute. “We have to step to the line, and we have to make those ones early hurt, too,” said Hulsing. “When we get that chance, we have to go to the line, really focus, block everything out and make sure we make those.” While the girls game saw neither team get going offensively, the boys game was a different story. Four players scored in double-figures for Lynnville-Sully, with TJ Cullen leading the team with 18 points. Dallas Bryan had 16 points, Logan Vos collected 14 points and 12 boards and Zach Stafford added 11 points. The Hawks shot 53.7 percent from the field while holding BGM to just 33.9 percent shooting. It was a big game for L-S boys coach Nick Harthoorn, whose team is currently sitting in third place in the South Iowa Cedar League. Keota is unbeaten, HLV is second with one loss and Lynnville-Sully is 7-2 within the conference. “Every ballgame is big,” Harthoorn said. “Right now there are a lot of teams still in the hunt. We’re one of those teams, so we definitely want to keep the winning ways going right now.” And the Hawks, who are now on a four-game winning streak, got off to a hot start. A 3-pointer by Bryan sparked an 11-0 run for the Hawks. That helped Lynnville-Sully take a 16-6 lead after the first quarter, and that held up going to halftime with a 31-17 advantage. But in the third quarter, momentum proved to be a fickle creature in that eight-minute span. First, Lynnville-Sully had it with a 10-3 run to build a 41-22 lead after a Vos drive in the lane. Then momentum went to the Bears, with a 12-0 run to make it a seven-point game. BGM got it down to four points at 43-39 with a putback by Jordan Hohensee with 43 seconds left in the third quarter. “I think we let down our guard a little bit and thought maybe we had the ballgame won,” Harthoorn said. “BGM kept playing hard and scrappy, and we had a few turnovers right in a row to get them back in the game.” But then momentum jumped back with the Hawks. Bryan canned a jumper with 11 seconds left in the third quarter and after getting the ball back, Vos tossed up a half-court shot that swished through the net at the buzzer. That gave the Hawks a 48-39 lead with the fourth quarter remaining. “I felt like that was a big lift for us,” said Harthoorn. “That got the momentum back on our side.” Stafford’s drive just 24 seconds into the fourth quarter pushed the lead back out to double-digits and BGM only got the deficit under 10 points one more time. The Hawks were able to clinch the game by making 14-of-17 free throws in the fourth quarter. “It was a good win for us,” Harthoorn said. I felt like we really had to win the game twice — we got up 19 and they got it all the way down to four, so we had to refocus and get back to playing good, solid basketball.” Boys Basketball Lynnville-Sully 69, BGM 53 Score by quarters BGM 6 11 22 14 — 53 L-S 16 15 17 21 — 69 L-S individual statistics TJ Cullen 18, Dallas Bryan 16, Logan Vos 14, Zach Stafford 11, Nick Beyer 4, Corey Gifford 4, Jacob Van Manen 2. 3-point goals — 5-16. Rebounds — 31 (Vos 12, Cullen 8). Assists — 10 (Bryan 5). Steals — 7. Blocked shots — 7 (Vos 3). Team fouls — 22.

Girls Basketball Lynnville-Sully 34, BGM 32 Score by quarters BGM 6 10 6 10 — 32 L-S 8 9 7 10 — 34 L-S individual statistics Tessa Engle 8, Brianna James 8, Danielle Samson 6, Tara Van Rees 6, Cyvannah Doll 4, Taylor Van Wyk 1, Caitlin Cross 1. 3-point goals — 1-11. Rebounds — 28 (Van Rees 7). Assists — 10 (Van Rees 6). Steals — 8 (Doll 3). Blocked shots — 3 (Samson 2).