Hawks’ final big run puts away Baxter in non-conference matchup

BAXTER — Basketball is often a game of runs. The Lynnville-Sully boys basketball team opened its non-conference contest against Baxter with a 10-0 run and then used an 11-0 spurt later to grab an advantage in the first half.

But a third run was needed to finish off a feisty Bolts’ squad that rallied from multiple double-digit deficits, and the Hawks’ 13-0 run that ended the third quarter put Baxter away for good during a 58-49 road victory.

“There were a lot of big runs in the game from both sides,” Lynnville-Sully senior Dawson James said. “We just responded late and got it done.”

James led the unbeaten Hawks with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but three L-S players scored 11 or more points and the Hawks dominated on the boards in the team’s first non-conference game of the season.

Lynnville-Sully leads all of Iowa in rebounds per game at 44.6. The Hawks won that battle against Baxter on Saturday, 43-21, and 16 of them came on the offensive end of the floor.

“We play two bigs most of the time, and we expect our guards to get in there, too,” Lynnville-Sully head boys basketball coach Nick Harthoorn said. “That has to be something we do consistently.”

Connor Deal and Sawyer Veldhuizen buried 3-pointers at the front and back end of a 10-0 run that started the game for the visiting Hawks.

Baxter closed the gap to 11-8 after a three-point play by Stadan Vansice started an 8-1 run.

Hayden Burdess, who ranks second on the Bolts with a rebounds per game average of 6.6, was whistled for his third foul shortly after that and went to the bench for most of the remainder of the first half.

The Hawks (8-0) took advantage of his absence and their 11-0 run swelled their margin to 22-8.

Deal started that run with another 3, Will Van Vark opened the second quarter with a three-point play and James had two putbacks during that stretch.

“The thing we wanted to get better at was physicality,” Baxter head boys basketball coach Kyle Stribe said. “That’s the best we’ve looked. That’s a big and physical team. They lead the state in rebounds.

“That’s been our weakness, and it wasn’t perfect, but we made some strides there.”

Baxter’s Eli Dee came into the game averaging more than 30 points per game, but the Hawks held him to a season-low 19 in their win.

Dee ended the 11-0 run with a bucket inside and added another layup, a dunk and two free throws in the period to close the Bolts’ gap to 33-23 at the break.

He opened the third with a steal and a layup and then melted the Hawks’ margin to 36-28 with a triple. Stadan Vansice got the Bolts (5-3) even closer when he sunk his own trey to trim the deficit to five.

Jack Bowlin scored inside to swell the advantage to seven, but a fadeaway by Dee and two free throws from Vansice pulled Baxter to within 38-35 with 3:30 to play in the third.

Lynnville-Sully though scored the final 13 points of the period and led by 16 after three. That stretch included two free throws and a bucket inside by Van Vark, back-to-back baskets by James and a Veldhuizen three-point play.

Vansice also picked up his fourth foul with 1:16 to play in the quarter and fouled out with a little less than 5 minutes to go in the game.

“There are certain guys we have to have out on the floor who make a difference,” Stribe said. “And (Vansice) and (Burdess) being in foul trouble didn’t help us.”

Harthoorn and his coaching staff drew up a play for the Hawks at the end of the third and Van Vark closed the quarter with a layup that came just before the buzzer.

“That stretch was huge. Our passing was sharp, and we got some good looks,” Harthoorn said about the 13-0 run that ended the third. “We ran a special at the end of the quarter and were able to get one more layup right before time expired and when you can finish the quarter strong like that it gives you some momentum.”

Colten Damman missed his first three shots of the game but caught fire in the fourth. His 3 and layup early in the frame dropped the Bolts’ margin to 51-40.

Dee and Cael Wishman scored back-to-back buckets to close the gap to single digits.

Maddux Tuhn’s spinning jumper in the lane and another 3 by Damman with 2:11 left got Baxter to within five, but a pair of layups by Bowlin and James closed out the victory for Lynnville-Sully.

Both teams shot 40 percent from the floor. The Hawks were 4-of-11 from 3 and made 10-of-19 from the free-throw line. The Bolts connected on 6-of-21 from deep and sunk 7-of-12 from the foul line.

Baxter had 14 assists on its 18 field goals but turned the ball over 15 times. The Hawks committed 12 turnovers.

“I love these games. It’s non-conference, they’re a good team and we get to see where we stand,” Stribe said. “I appreciate the fight of our kids. They really battled.”

James’ double-double led the Hawks, but Bowlin added 12 points and five rebounds and Van Vark chipped in 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Veldhuizen finished with eight points and six rebounds, Deal posted six points, two rebounds, three assists and two blocks and Cameyon James totaled five points, six boards and two assists off the bench. Van Maanen also grabbed three rebounds off the bench.

“We’re playing well right now on both ends of the floor. We’re scoring and playing good defense,” Dawson James said. “We have lot of guys who can score both inside and outside and have five guys on the bench who we trust to put in as well.”

Lynnville-Sully’s depth and balanced scoring have been an advantage for it all season. Baxter’s Dee scored 19 but no other Bolt reached double figures.

The Hawks used a triangle and two defense against Dee. He added eight rebounds and five assists to his 19 points.

Vansice contributed eight points, three rebounds and three assists and Damman totaled eight points and three assists off the bench.

Wishman tallied four points and three boards off the bench in his season debut. Parker had three points and two rebounds, Tuhn and Holden Dee both scored three points and Burdess grabbed two boards.

Eli Dee will always be the Bolts’ top offensive option, but Stribe wants his supporting cast to shoot the ball when they’re open, too.

“With what they ran against us, it was going to be hard for (Eli Dee) to get his,” Stribe said. “They ran a triangle and two, but they used the top triangle guy and a man defender to guard Eli.

“We are trying to get the other guys more comfortable shooting the ball. They put in a lot of work this summer. We want them to shoot it. We don’t care if they miss it. If they’re wide open, it’s going to be the best shot we get.”

Dawson James said the game plan against Eli Dee was simply to not let one player beat them.

“At times it worked, but he’s a tough guard,” Harthoorn said. “And then when other guys start making shots you start to wonder, too.

“It was a choppy game for whatever reason. Both teams made some runs at certain points of the game. We’d go up 12 or whatever and they’d get it back to five. It just seemed hard to sustain anything, but I feel like Eli Dee makes it challenging for what you want to do defensively.”

Notes: Eli Dee’s 256 points leads the state. His 32 points per game ranks third, and he’s averaging 11 rebounds per game, too. The Hawks are one of five remaining unbeaten teams in Class 1A, but no one is averaging more than 12 points per game and six Hawks average seven or more. “That’s the beautiful thing about basketball,” Harthoorn said. “There’s multiple ways to get it done. When you have a great player like they do, you’re going to ride that and run offense through him. For us, we’re just better when we’re all feeding off each other.”