Lynnville-Sully boys capture 1A substate title, state tourney berth

OSKALOOSA — Lynnville-Sully’s Hawks appeared to be cruising to their second straight state tournament trip on Saturday night. The Class 1A fourth-ranked Hawks rolled up an 18-point halftime lead over Iowa Mennonite School.

Everything went the Hawks’ way in the first half of the 1A Substate 5 championship game. Not so much in the second half as IMS made the Hawks work for the state tournament berth right to the final buzzer.

It came down to key free throws by seniors Jesse Van Wyk and Brevin Hansen in the final minute to thwart the IMS rally. Lynnville-Sully won 52-48.

The Hawks had to play on back-to-back nights to claim the state tournament berth. They held off Montezuma, 58-45, in Friday’s Distrct 10 title game in Newton.

“I am proud of these boys for fighting through three games in four days,” Lynnville-Sully head coach Nick Harthoorn said. “Its amazing what a group of guys can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit. It was a special night to be a Hawk.”

IMS outscored Lynnville-Sully 30-16 in the second half. It narrowed the margin to five, 48-43, with two minutes left in the game.

Van Wyk, who had scored eight of the Hawks’ first 11 points, sank both ends of a one-and-one. Iowa Mennonite senior Cole Ours had his first basket of the night with 22 seconds on the clock.

IMS extended the game by sending Hansen to the line for a one-and-one. Hansen hit the first but missed the second and IMS countered with a 3-pointer by senior Mitchell Schmieder. A timeout was called by IMS with nine seconds remaining trailing 51-48.

Hansen went back to the foul line for a one-and-one, with the same result, but it put the Hawks in front by four points. IMS’s comeback fell short.

The game opened on an even keel, 2-all. Lynnville-Sully had back-to-back 3-pointers from Van Wyk and senior Tanner Foster. IMS freshman Eli Ours and Van Wyk traded conventional three-point plays to make it 11-5.

Senior Corey McCoy came off the bench to score consecutive baskets for the Hawks when Van Wyk found him alone under the basket. The Hawks were up 17-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Lynnville-Sully owned the second quarter of an 19-9 run. McCoy tallied five points and junior Tyson Vander Linden drained two 3-pointers to push the Hawk lead to 28-15.

Junior Rylan James had back-to-back buckets then Van Wyk and Foster finished the first half with consecutive baskets. The Hawks commanded a 36-18 halftime lead.

But IMS didn’t fold. It came out on an 11-2 run to get the deficit down to single digits, 38-29, with less then three minutes left in the third quarter. Van Wyk fired in his second 3-pointer of the game with 2:15 left.

That was answered by a trey from Eli Ours then Foster connected from long range for Lynnville-Sully. McCoy finished a 5-0 run by the Hawks with a basket to keep th Hawks up 46-32 heading into the fourth quarter.

IMS rattled off another 11-2 run to make the final two minutes intense basketball.

Lynnville-Sully was 6-of-10 from the free-throw line in the game while IMS went 8-of-11. The Hawks finished hitting 6-of-9 from 3-point range — four came in the first half. IMS also had six 3-pointers.

Overall, the Hawks shot 62.5 percent, 20-of-62, from the field. IMS shot 35 percent, 17-of-49. Lynnville-Sully held a 27-19 edge in rebounding. The Hawks turned the ball over 18 times.

Van Wyk paced the Hawks with 15 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks. Foster scored 10 points and had six rebounds while McCoy had 11 points. James cleared five rebounds.

Schmieder finish with 18 points for IMS, which ended up 21-4. Senior Reggie Borntrager added 10 points.

Lynnville-Sully (22-3), North Linn, Grand View Christian and Egdewood-Colesburg punched their tickets to the 2018 Class 1A state basketball tournament with substate wins Saturday. The other four 1A substate finals were postponed until Monday because of inclement weather.

Grand View Christian is the defending 1A champion and North Linn finished third in 2017. Lynnville-Sully lost in the 2017 quarterfinal round.

Lynnville-Sully 17-19-8-8—52

Iowa Mennonite 9-9-15-15—48

Lynnville-Sully (FG/3-pt): Hansen 0-2-2-2, Van Wyk 3/2-3-2-15, Vander Linden 0/2-0-0-6, Foster 2/2-0-2-10, James 4-0-3-8, McCoy 5-1-1-11.TOTALS: 14/6-6-10-52.

Iowa Mennonite (FG/3-pt); C. Ours 1-0-2-2, R. Borntrager 4-2-3-10, E. Ours 2/1-2-2-9, Leyden 1/2-0-2-8, Schmieder 3/3-3-1-18, Swantz 0-1-0-1. TOTALS: 11/6-8-11-48.

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