Hawk boys advance with 43-34 win over Warhawks

Using strong first and fourth quarters, the Lynnville-Sully boys basketball team advanced in the Class 1A District playoffs with a 43-34 home win over fellow South Iowa Cedar League rival North Mahaska.

The win moves the Hawks (19-3) into the district semifinals, where they’ll face another SICL team — BGM (Brooklyn) on Tuesday, also at home.

Lynnville-Sully led 15-9 after the first quarter and 28-24 entering the fourth, where they pulled away by outscoring the Warhawks 15-10.

Hawks sophomore Darin Hopher led the team in scoring with 14 points and had four blocked shots, while sophomore TJ Cunningham added 13 points. Juniors Nathan Russell and Brady Van Wyk each had six points, with Russell grabbing 10 rebounds.

North Mahaska was held to 19 percent shooting, going 10-for-52 on field goals. Lynnville-Sully had only eight turnovers.

“We got a taste of tournament basketball,” Hawks coach Nick Harthoorn said. “It was a physical game. We have to do a better job of boxing out. The kids fought hard and found a way to win. We knocked down a few big shots when we needed them.”

Lynnville-Sully has beaten BGM twice this season, though the Bears have won eight of their past nine games. Their only loss in that stretch was to conference champion Keota.