March 28, 2024

Lynnville-Sully girls fall short in 1A regional semifinal

NEW SHARON — Lynnville-Sully’s Hawk girls used a 6-0 surge to open Friday’s Class 1A Region 6 semifinal game against third-ranked North Mahaska. The Hawks were trying to come up with third-time’s a charm.

It was the third meeting of the two South Iowa Cedar League teams with the Warhawks sweeping the conference two contests. After leading 15-8 through one quarter, the Hawks only scored 19 more points as the Warhawks charged to the front to win 49-34.

“I am very proud of how hard the girls played tonight . They really laid it on the line. A big difference in the game was the free throw shooting,” Lynnville-Sully head coach Jerry Hulsing said. “We missed our chances and had a cold shooting night which you can not have against a good team.”

The Hawks went 4-of-22 at the free-throw line. They shot 30 percent, 13-of-43, from the field.

L-S also ran into early foul trouble with senior Mallory Loftus going to the Hawk bench within the first two minutes of the second quarter and junior Krystal Van Dyke following late in the period. The Hawks’ two top scorers each had two fouls.

North Mahaska got its offense going in the second quarter with an 8-0 run, taking its first lead with 5:42 on the clock. L-S junior Korinne Jensen, who hit a 3-pointer at the end of the first period, sank the front end of a one-and-one to tie it 16-all.

Cally Gibbs, a junior, drilled a 3-pointer at the 3:40 mark for a 19-18 Hawk lead. It was the last time Lynnville-Sully led in the game. A trey by junior Caitlin Alberts make it 24-22, but North Mahaska’s senior Kassidi Steel had a bucket before the buzzer to give the Warhawks a 26-22 halftime lead.

“Our defense was pretty good. I thought we scrapped,” Hulsing said as the Hawks kept the Warhawks almost 15 points below their scoring average of 63 points.

Foul trouble was faced by both teams in the game but the senior-laden Warhawks were able to maneuver around it better. Loftus had her third foul two and a half minutes into the third period and by the end of the quarter Van Dyke had four.

The only points scored by Lynnville-Sully in the third was a basket by Jansen to make it 33-24. The Hawks were down 35-24 heading into the fourth period.

Loftus scored with 2:28 remaining in the game to make it 44-26. North Mahaska outscored Lynnville-Sully 14-10, scoring the final five points at the line.

Jansen finished with nine points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Hawks. In her final game for L-S, Loftus scored nine points, had two rebounds and one assist. Alberts added six points and two assists.

Gibbs scored five points and had six rebounds. Van Dyke grabbed 11 rebounds and had four points. Freshman Greenlee Smock had one point.

Senior Brittney Hansen had one rebound. Also a senior on the team but sidelined the whole season with an injury was Janelle Rozendaal. The Hawks finished 15-7 with three losses to North Mahaska.

“I would like to say thank you to our three seniors, Brittney, Janelle, and Mallory for the four years they have invested in our program and wish them well in their future plans. They will be missed,” Hulsing said.

North Mahaska (20-2) has seven seniors, including Emma Tyrrel’s season-high 12 points and 14 rebounds. Steel had 11 points and five steals. Senior Jade Hay had 10 points and senior Cheyenne Shaw added nine points.

The Warhawks shot 38 percent, 19-of-49, from the field and 8-of-17 from the line. Each team had 39 rebounds.

North Mahaska plays Martensdale-St. Marys — a 55-40 winner over Lamoni on Friday — for the Class 1A Region 6 championship at 7 p.m. Monday at Pleasantville. The winner qualifies for the 1A State Tournament March 2-7 in Des Moines.

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