Bryan’s 20 puts Hawks one game from state
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| Lynnville-Sully senior Brittany Bryan takes a foul just before the first-half buzzer in the Hawks’ 53-38 win over Moulton-Udell in a Class 1A Regional Semifinal game. (Mike Hockett/Daily News) |
KNOXVILLE — Just before the first half buzzer, Brittany Bryan took a hard foul as she attempted a last-second shot near the basket. She was knocked to the floor, and lost a contact lens in the process.
Unfazed, the Lynnville-Sully senior got up, popped the lens back in, and calmly sank two free throws to give the Hawks an eight-point lead at the break.
It was that kind of night for Bryan, who made four 3-pointers and went 6-for-8 at the free throw line to finish with 20 points and lead the Hawks to a 53-38 win over Moulton-Udell in a Class 1A Regional Semifinal game in Knoxville Friday night. The win puts fourth-ranked Lynnville-Sully (22-2) one win from a third-straight trip to the state tournament, as it will play No. 14 Burlington Notre Dame (18-5) tonight in Ottumwa.
“I was really excited and wanted to make it to the next round because I’ve never been this far before,” said Bryan — who transferred to L-S this summer from Montezuma. “I was feeling it.”
Bryan scored 13 points in the first half, including eight straight for the Hawks in the second quarter, at which point L-S seized control of the game. They wouldn’t relinquish it, taking a 10-point lead late in the third quarter and then pulled away by making 12-of-16 free throws in the fourth.
It was one of Bryan’s best games of the season at one-point shy of her season-high. She had been held to six, three and six points in the Hawks’ previous three games.
“She stepped up and shot the ball well when we needed someone to,” L-S coach Jerry Hulsing said. “We had some great-high low looks and were able to kick it out to her.”
Bryan’s first-half shooting helped out fellow senior Brianna James, as the forward scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half as the Eagles’ defense guarded the perimeter more tightly, opening things up inside.
“It’s good to have that outside-inside game because if they’re taking me away, then the outside opens up,” James said. “When they try and stop her (Bryan), that leaves me open like it did in the second half.”
Things were tightly contested through the game’s first eight minutes, with the Hawks trailing 10-6 before Bryan’s first 3-pointer started a 7-0 L-S run to pull them ahead 13-10, and they led by one at the end of the first quarter.
After a quick rest on the bench to begin the second, Bryan came back in and immediately came up with a steal-and-score to put the Hawks up 17-12, and then hit back-to-back 3-pointers shortly after to make it 23-14 with 1 minute and 45 seconds left in the half. The closest Moulton-Udell would get the rest of the game was 25-19 early in the third quarter.
“I told the girls it wasn’t going to be easy as the other night when everything was firing on all cylinders,” said Hulsing, referring to L-S’ 64-37 win over Twin Cedars on Monday in which it led 12-0 early and hit 10 3-pointers.” We came out and gutted it out. It was probably our ‘B’ game a little bit, but we were still able to move on, survive and play another day.”
Bryan hit her fourth 3-pointer early in the third, and the teams traded baskets throughout the quarter. Sophomore Rachel Van Wyk’s basket with seven seconds left put the Hawks up 34-24 going into the fourth.
L-S scored only two baskets in the fourth, but was able to pull away at the free-throw line as the Hawks continued to penetrate and take fouls. Four different players made at least two free throws in the fourth, with Bryan and James each making four.
“It was just keeping our composure and realizing the clock was our friend,” L-S senior Abby Van Wyk said. “We wanted to take as much time as possible and get to the line.”
Tonight, the Hawks will play a Burlington Notre Dame team that is coming off a 20-point win over Winfield-Mt. Union and has averaged nearly 67 points per game this season.
“They’re quick and athletic,” Hulsing said. ‘They’re going to come out and pressure and get in our face, so we’ll have to handle that.
“We just have to stay relaxed,” Abby Van Wyk added. “We can’t be thinking about state. We have to be focused on this game.”
Tipoff from Ottumwa’s Evans Middle School is at 7 p.m.
Lynnville-Sully 53,
Moulton-Udell 38
Score by quarter
MU - 12 5 7 14 — 38
LS - 13 12 9 19 — 53
LS individual stats
Scoring — Bryan 20, James 14, Abby Van Wyk 4, Lyndsey Terpstra 4, Cassie Cullen 4, McKenzi Ritter 3, Rachel Van Wyk 2, Aimee Rolffs 2.
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