Lynnville-Sully girls extend winning streak to seven games

SULLY — Majesta Vos missed six games due to an injury earlier this season.

But since she’s been back on the floor, the Lynnville-Sully girls basketball team has yet to lose a game. The win streak reached six games on Friday following the team’s 36-26 home win over English Valleys during a South Iowa Cedar League matchup.

Neither Vos nor L-S head girls basketball coach Jerry Hulsing feels like she’s the only reason for the strong play of late, but there’s no denying her presence on the court has provided a lift to the Hawks.

“Chemistry matters and she gives us another presence inside,” Hulsing said. “I think we now have three real strong posts, and it’s been good to roll with a double-headed monster at all times. We are able to bang and rebound and score and make it tough inside on people.”

Vos led the Hawks with 11 points and nine rebounds against the Bears. She’s currently the team’s second-leading scorer and one of the top rebounders this winter.

“I think we do a good job working together and communicating,” Vos said. “(The win streak) is not because I’m back, but I do think with me back in there we now can fully connect and we’ve been able to get things going.”

The first half couldn’t have gone much better for the Hawks against English Valleys.

Lynnville-Sully (11-4 overall, 8-2 in the SICL) took the lead for good when Greenlee Smock buried a 3-pointer that put her squad up 5-2.

Kate Harthoorn drained a trey and Vos scored on a putback to push the Hawks’ advantage to 10-3 after one quarter.

Smock scored all eight of her points in the first half. She opened the second with a basket and then canned another 3 to put the Hawks in front 18-5. Vos also scored inside and made a free throw during that stretch.

L-S outscored English Valleys 10-3 in each of the first two quarters. Brooke Conover’s bucket inside ended the half and gave the Hawks a 20-6 lead at the break.

“We executed and ran our offense well,” Vos said. “We played pretty good defense and were talking. We also knew where (Kennedy) Axmear was at, which was important.”

The Bears rallied in the third. English Valleys (10-5, 7-5) scored nine of the first 12 points in the frame to close its gap to 23-15, but a 3 by Harthoorn and a bucket inside by Conover kept the Hawks’ lead at double digits after three frames.

Both teams scored 11 points in the fourth. The Bears didn’t get closer than eight in the period.

“They came out more aggressive on defense and we were timid offensively,” Hulsing said. “We didn’t attack like we did in the first half. We were back on our heels.

“Fortunately for us, we weathered their run. We talked about how we knew they’d make a run and come after us. They are a good ball club. Good teams can do that. We righted the ship though.”

Vos scored six of her 11 points in the fourth and Harthoorn buried a pair of free throws with 39 seconds to play that pushed the Hawks’ margin back to 10.

Lynnville-Sully led the Bears 25-9 at halftime last season but lost 49-44 after being outscored 40-19 in the second half. The Hawks did not let their big halftime lead slip away this time around.

“Last year, we got beat in the second half by this team,” Vos said. “They came out strong and we weren’t quite as good. We picked it back up. I don’t think we quite knew how much we needed to get going again. We kicked it in eventually.”

Lynnville-Sully scored 70 points in a win over Belle Plaine during the current win streak. Outside of that, the Hawks averaged 40 points per game in the other six victories and four of those were by six points or less.

“We would love to score more points. We are getting good shots. They just aren’t going down,” Hulsing said. “But we are scratching and clawing and keep finding a way. We are rebounding the ball better and we are getting more second-chance opportunities on offense.”

Vos was the only player in double figures against English Valleys, but Smock finished with eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Hawks had a 12-0 advantage in bench points. Harthoorn provided eight points and three boards and Conover registered four points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks in reserve roles.

Elise Alberts collected five points and grabbed two boards, Morgan Jones added two rebounds and two steals, Tatum Huyser pulled down two rebounds, Alaina Roberts dished out two assists and Aubree Arthur blocked two shots.

The Hawks shot 28 percent from the floor, connected on 5-of-17 from 3-point range and made 5-of-11 from the free-throw line. They committed only 14 turnovers and delivered 11 assists on their 13 field goals.

English Valleys came into the game winners of four of its past five games.

Axmear is averaging around 14 points and 11 rebounds per game but was limited to five points and nine boards against the Hawks.

Addy Westfall led the Bears with nine points and four boards and Imagyn Stratton tallied six points and 10 rebounds. Delaney Hall was held to six points below her season average of 12.3 points per game.

The Bears shot 19 percent from the floor, made 3-of-13 from 3 and connected on 11-of-21 from the foul line. They also committed 15 turnovers.

Lynnville-Sully 45, Collins-Maxwell 40

MAXWELL — The Hawks rallied from a first-half hole on the road against Collins-Maxwell on Saturday.

Lynnville-Sully trailed by eight after one and by seven at halftime but outscored the Spartans 31-19 in the second half during a 45-40 victory in non-conference action.

“The girls really scrapped the whole game,” Hulsing said. “Our defense was much better in the second half executing our game plan and getting some key stops.”

The Spartans (11-3) led 12-4 after one. The Hawks outscored their hosts in the other three quarters, including a 13-8 advantage in the third and an 18-11 surplus in the fourth.

Roberts scored a career-best 11 points and Tatum Huyser matched a career-high with 11 more as the Hawks’ bench outscored the Spartans’ reserves 24-2.

L-S shot 38.5 percent from the floor, connected on 3-of-10 from long range and hit 12-of-18 from the foul line.

The Hawks were plagued by 29 turnovers but out-rebounded Collins-Maxwell 42-30.

“In the first half, we played back on our heels and didn’t attack the basket so we struggled and our defense was not as sharp as it needed to be,” Hulsing said. “But in the second half the girls really came out more aggressive and we were able to get back into the game.”

Roberts led the Hawks with 11 points, four rebounds and three steals and Huyser added 11 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Vos collected six points, seven boards and three steals, Smock tallied six points, three rebounds and two steals and Arthur finished with four points and seven rebounds.

Alberts scored five points, Harthoorn grabbed six rebounds, Conover pulled down four boards and Jones dished out two assists.

Erica Houge led the Spartans with a game-high 19 points and added seven rebounds and Chloe Wierson chipped in 16 points and eight boards.

Collins-Maxwell only turned the ball over 15 times but shot 24.5 percent from the floor and made only 14-of-28 from the foul line.