The Hawk boys had their highest scoring game of the season on Tuesday, Jan. 10, when they were hosted by the Sigourney Savages. The L-S boys easily took the win, 74-29.
“Our defensive energy was good tonight,” said L-S Coach Nick Harthoorn. “That got us going offensively. We were able to get a lot of good shots and convert them at a high percentage.”
The Hawks’ high scoring night created four double-digit scorers. Juniors Brevin Hansen and Tanner Foster ended with 17 and 13 points. Sophomore Rylan James finished with 12, and the last double-digit scorer was junior Jesse Van Wyk with 10.
Junior Corey McCoy lifts off a shot in Friday’s beatdown of English Valleys.
“I think we got off to a fast start and beat them down the floor for a lot of easy buckets,” said James.
Sophomore Tyson Vander Linden ended the night with seven points, and senior Ryan Hofer had five. Senior John Trettin had four. Senior Tyler Van Zante and juniors Corey McCoy and Kemper Lukehart ended the night with two points apiece.
The Hawks dominated in rebounding, out-rebounding the Savages 30 to 14. Leading the way for the Hawks were Hansen with seven and Van Wyk with six. Hansen also had five steals, contributing to the Hawks creating 17 turnovers by the Savages. The Hawks had 15 assists to Sigourney’s five with Van Zante contributing five of them.
Keota
A couple days later on Thursday, Jan. 12, the Hawks traveled to Keota to take on the Eagles in a heated conference game. The Hawks won 72-58 in a game that they led the whole way.
“We got off to a good start and forced Keota to play from behind,” Harthoorn noted. “The guys stayed tough mentally when they made a few runs at us.”
The leading scorer of the night was Van Wyk with a season-high 26 points on 10-15 shooting. The next leading scorer was Foster with 16 points on 10 shots. James went five of six from the field for 11 points.
“We played really good offense as a team,” Van Wyk said. “We moved the ball well, found the open man, and knocked down shots.”
Van Wyk also led the team in rebounds with eight. McCoy and James each had five rebounds.
“I thought we rebounded well as a team,” James said. “We had to stay disciplined against a couple of strong posts.”
Van Wyk also led the team in assists with four. The next leading assister was Hansen with three. Trettin had two assists.
One of the keys for the Hawks was an aggressive offense that attacked the basket. The Hawks shot 18-of-24 from the free-throw line, compared to only 5-of-8 for the Eagles.
“We did an excellent job of taking care of the basketball and attacking the hoop for quality shots,” said Harthoorn.
English Valleys
Junior Tanner Foster throws down a dunk during the 71-18 victory over EV last Friday. Foster scored six points in the game.
The next day, the Hawks played in their third game of the week. Hosting English Valleys, L-S could not be stopped and already had an impressive 46-9 lead after the first half. The boys went on to win 71-18.
“It was a great night to get everyone involved,” Harthoorn said. “All 11 guys played really hard. It was fun to see our bench make some nice plays tonight. Hopefully. we can bring that energy in practice next week and keep making strides.”
Again, three L-S boys reached the double digits in scoring, including James with 15, Van Wyk with 14, and McCoy with 11. A total of 10 Hawks scored in the game.
L-S out-rebounded EV 29-12 and committed just nine turnovers to the Bears’ 32.
The 12-1 Hawks were on the road at BGM on Tuesday and will travel to North Mahaska on Friday before hosting Albia on Saturday.
