Sixth-ranked Hawks go into winter break with undefeated record

NORTH ENGLISH — A strong start gave the Lynnville-Sully girls basketball team an early lead and the Class 1A No. 6 Hawks did enough the rest of the way during a 44-35 road win over English Valleys.

Lynnville-Sully led 17-10 after one and outscored the Bears 17-13 in the third. English Valleys was plus two in the other two quarters.

“We survived and got the win,” Lynnville-Sully head girls basketball coach Jerry Hulsing said. “We were not as sharp as we needed to be on defense, need to communicate better to get through screens and not trail cutters. We ran our offense OK but missed several bunnies.”

The Hawks improved to 25-3 against English Valleys since 2007. They have won four straight in the series.

Kate Harthoorn led the visitors with 12 points, two rebounds and three steals. She was 2-of-5 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.

The Hawks got 22 points from their bench. Aubrey Harthoorn had a career-best 11 points and added four rebounds and three steals and Isabelle Vos totaled seven points, seven boards, three assists and two blocks.

Breah Lowry posted four points and seven steals, Tatum Huyser chipped in four rebounds and two blocks, Brilynn Tice pulled down four boards and Ava Brummel contributed two steals. Brooke Harthoorn put in four points off the bench.

The Hawks (9-0, 7-0 in the SICL) shot 31.7 percent from the floor, made 3-of-10 from 3 and connected on 15-of-25 from the foul line. They turned the ball over 16 times and swiped 19 steals.

Anna Luers led English Valleys (3-3, 3-3) with 15 points, four rebounds, four steals and two blocks.

The Bears, who do not have a senior in their top six, shot 36.7 percent from the floor, made only 1-of-6 from 3 and buried 12-of-15 from the foul line. They committed 21 turnovers.