Lynnville-Sully advances to quarterfinals after third win over BGM

SULLY — Lynnville-Sully girls basketball coach Jerry Hulsing was not sure if a roster full of first-year varsity players were nervous for their first postseason game on Thursday night.

One of those players, junior Greenlee Smock, said it definitely could have been a factor.

Whether it was or not, the Hawks are moving on after a convincing win over South Iowa Cedar League foe BGM.

The Hawks went in front 9-0 after one quarter and led by eight or more the rest of the way during a 50-24 home win in their Class 1A Region 7 opener.

“I thought we settled into our game plan better in the second half and executed much better on both ends of the floor,” Hulsing said. “We played like we had a purpose for what we were doing, which led us to building our lead.”

The win advanced the Hawks to the quarterfinal round of 1A Region 7 where they will play No. 12 Martensdale-St. Marys at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Martensdale.

L-S and BGM are in the same conference so this was the third meeting between the two programs.

There were no secrets. Both teams knew what the other wanted to do at both ends of the floor.

That might have factored into what Hulsing called a ragged first half. But the Hawks (12-10) were never behind and the lead was double-digits for most of the final three periods.

“The prep might be easier because you know them, but there aren’t any secrets when you play a team for a third time,” Hulsing said. “They battled, they know what we want to do and what our tendencies are. We just had to execute.

“After halftime, it was more workmanlike. We moved the ball better, got it to where we wanted to get it to and got better looks.”

The Hawks led the Bears 9-0 after one quarter following 3-pointers from Smock and Reagan McFarland and three points from Natalie Nikkel.

Smock was the biggest factor on the offensive end of the floor in the first half. She scored 12 of her 15 points in the first two frames, connecting from deep twice and scoring three buckets in the paint.

Points in the paint were a factor in the win as Nikkel added a pair of baskets in the lane in the second and Aubree Arthur also scored inside.

Lynnville-Sully shot 38 percent from the floor but had a 32-6 advantage in points in the paint.

BGM’s defense was designed to keep the ball out of the lane, but Smock’s 3-pointers and the Hawks’ ability to get out in transition helped open up the post area.

“The quicker you move the ball around the easier it is to get it inside. That was the plan,” Smock said. “If nothing is open someone needs to hit from outside. I’m just glad a few of my shots went in. We didn’t want to force it inside if it wasn’t there.”

Smock was surprised she hit a few 3-pointers early. She felt like her shot was slumping after the practices leading up to the game.

“I was feeling it tonight. But it was surprising because I wasn’t making them in practice lately,” Smock said. “It felt good to get a few to go down though.”

The second half belonged to McFarland. She hit a 3 in the first half but most of her production came in the final two quarters.

She scored nine of her 12 points in the second half and finished with two rebounds, six assists and 10 steals.

Like the first quarter, Smock, McFarland and Nikkel were the only three Hawks to score in third and they led 35-13 after three.

Nikkel finished with nine points and nine rebounds and Brooke Conover registered seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench.

Arthur added four points and seven boards, Elise Alberts chipped in three points, three rebounds and two steals, Morgan Jones dished out a pair of assists and Alexy Conover grabbed three boards. The Hawks out-rebounded the Bears 36-28.

Hulsing feels like all eight of his varsity regulars can put the ball in the basket like Smock did in the first half. He’s just happy someone made shots to open things up for the Hawks.

“We just needed someone to step up. I don’t ever care who it is,” Hulsing said. “(Greenlee) had open looks and she knocked them down. We needed someone to give us a spark, and she was able to do that in the first half.”

The Hawks shot 5-of-18 from 3-point range and made 3-of-9 from the free-throw line. They had 18 steals and committed 21 turnovers.

Laila Morrison led BGM (0-23) with eight points and five rebounds.

The Bears shot 23.7 percent from the floor, 4-of-12 from 3 and 2-of-12 from the foul line. They committed 27 turnovers.

Notes: The Hawks were without starter Majesta Vos on Thursday. She is out with a concussion she suffered in physical education class. Hulsing is not sure if he will get her back for Tuesday’s game against the Blue Devils. … Smock wants L-S to come out with more energy against state-ranked Martensdale-St. Marys (21-1). “If we can come out like we did in the second half in our next game, that will give us the best chance to win,” Smock said.