L-S boys use strong second half to pull away from Belle Plaine

SULLY — The Lynnville-Sully boys basketball team couldn’t shake Belle Plaine in the first half of the their South Iowa Cedar League contest on Friday.

But the second-half separation came after the Hawks ramped up their defense and got much better on the boards.

Sawyer Veldhuizen scored all 11 of his points in the first half and Dawson James and Carson Maston put in 21 of their combined 31 in the second two quarters and the big second half powered the hosts to a 62-40 win.

The Hawks led by eight at halftime before outscoring the Plainsmen 31-17 in the second half.

“In the third quarter, we had more intensity and were more disciplined in what we wanted to do defensively,” L-S head boys basketball coach Nick Harthoorn said. “Then our tough defense translated into good offense at the other end.”

Belle Plaine’s Sam DeMeulenaere was tough to handle in the first half. He scored six of the Plainsmen’s 11 first-quarter points, but Veldhuizen kept the Hawks in front with a pair of 3-pointers and a layup.

Lynnville-Sully scored six of the final eight points in the period to lead 16-11 after one.

While DeMeulenaere continued to score inside for Belle Plaine in the second, the Hawks got another 3 from Veldhuizen, a trey from Will Van Vark and four straight from James to push their lead to 26-17.

James added another bucket inside and Maston’s final points of the first half sent L-S into halftime with a 31-23 advantage.

DeMeulenaere scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first 16 minutes. But his running mate down low, Lane Vokoun, picked up his third foul midway through the first frame and didn’t return until the second half.

“We were pressing quite a bit in the first half, and I don’t think we did a great job of identifying (DeMeulenaere) in the press,” Harthoorn said. “He was able to get loose at the back end. When he gets around the bucket, he’s pretty tough to stop. We went away from pressing in the second half and did a better job identifying where he was at.”

Six Hawks scored in the first half and seven put in at least four points in the game.

James scored nine of his team-high 17 points in the third, and Maston added 10 of his 14 in the second half.

James converted a putback to begin the third and then added a three-point play and a basket inside later to extend the lead to 40-27.

L-S outscored the Plainsmen 18-9 in the third, but the Hawks finished the period on a 14-5 spurt and led 49-32 after three.

The Hawks continued to dominate inside the paint in the fourth. Maston scored six paint points in the period, while Dawson James and Cameyon James both scored a bucket inside to push the margin to 60-34.

“We have good balance on this team, and that’s got to be a strength for us,” Harthoorn said. “I think maybe they got into foul trouble with their bigs. They probably had to back off a bit inside and that helped us control the paint in the second half.”

Dawson James led the Hawks with 17 points and nine boards. He was 8-of-10 from the floor.

Maston added 14 points and seven rebounds. He was 6-of-8 from the field.

Lynnville-Sully (10-3, 7-3 in the SICL) shot 51 percent from the floor despite making only 5-of-20 from 3. The Hawks were 7-of-10 from the free-throw line, scored 38 points in the paint and out-rebounded Belle Plaine 36-21.

“If you play zone, Will, Sawyer and Hendrick will just drop 3s,” Dawson James said. “But if you go man, we’ll blow by you or get busy inside. We’re hard to guard no matter what defense you play.”

Veldhuizen put in 11 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished out two assists. He was 3-of-7 from 3.

Van Vark chipped in eight points, three assists and four steals and Hendrick Lowry added two rebounds and three assists.

Jack Bowlin led the Hawk reserves with four points, seven boards and two assists. Connor Deal tallied four points and three assists and Cameyon James posted four points and two blocks off the bench.

DeMeulenaere led the Plainsmen with 20 points, while Ty Alcott added six rebounds and four assists. Vokoun scored nine points and Belle Plaine (3-12, 3-7) shot 38.3 percent from the floor and made 1-of-12 from 3.

“I was impressed with how Belle Plaine played,” Harthoorn said. “They were aggressive and played hard. They didn’t shoot it as well as they would have liked, but they were physical, attacked the hoop and were strong on the boards. They certainly made us earn it tonight.”

The victory was the Hawks’ sixth straight overall and their third victory in a row over the Lady Plainsmen. Lynnville-Sully is 21-8 against Belle Plaine since 2006.

“They were a really good rebounding team, and (DeMeulenaere) can jump really high,” Dawson James said. “When he gets into the lane, he just jumped over us. We got more ball pressure and got more rebounds in the second half.”

Notes: Lynnville-Sully has won at least 10 games in every season but one since at least 2006-07. The Hawks have reached that benchmark in five straight seasons. … L-S came into the game with three players averaging between 10 and 11 points per game and another averaging 8.8 points per contest. … Belle Plaine came into the game shooting only 19 percent from 3 and 60 percent from the foul line. The Plainsmen made only one trey and were 3-of-7 from the charity stripe in the loss.