Two Straight : Lyncs defend title with win over Kings

Continued from B1 the favor by winning by three.

is third game served as the tiebreaker between the two 1A superpowers and at the beginning of the game, Kings was in the driver's seat. e Knights ripped o a 13-0 run in the rst quarter and were up 21-8 against LC going into the second.

LC senior Tyler Sipma said that despite being down 13 points early in the game, their coach told them they have been here before and they know how to comeback.

“Tim just kinda smiled at us and said ‘guys we are ne relax,’” Sipma said. “With that mentality running through everyone’s brain it lets us really play free and get our work done.” e Lyncs opened the second half on a heater. ey tore o an 8-0 run to start the third quarter and grabbed their rst lead since the rst quarter. Junior Dawson Bouma started to warm up with four points early in the third. e Lyncs outscored the Knights 17-9 in the third quarter and did not look back after that. ey went into the fourth with a 39-36 lead and did not relinquish it again. With two and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, Dykstra and Wright combined to close the game. Dykstra hit his third three-pointer of the night to give LC a six-point lead. On their next o ensive possession, Sipma drove inside the paint and put up a shot that bounced o the rim and Wright snatched it with three King players around him. Wright dribbled back a step and put a shot o the glass to lunge the dagger into the Knight's championship hopes.

Sipma was electric in the tournament. He was the perfect oor general throughout their three games and continually created o ense for himself and for his teammates.

Sipma nished the game championship game with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists. He was also placed on the All-Tournament second team.

Junior Jeremiah Wright was named the 1A tournament Most Valuable Player. Wright was incessant on the boards and contributed multiple second-chance points for the Lyncs. Wright had 15 points and a ridiculous 14 rebounds to help lead the Lyncs to the championship win.

Following the rough rst quarter, LC broke out of their funk and stormed back as they rode the hot hand of senior Lane Dykstra. He hit two threes at the beginning of the second quarter to shoot life back into the Lyncs.

Zylstra said he is proud of how they shared the ball throughout the night.

“We are so much harder to guard when other people are hitting shots, it spreads things out. I give all the credit to the boys, they work their tail o in practice and that is where it starts,” Zylstra said.

LC outscored Kings 14-6 in the second quarter but went into halftime trailing 27-22.

LC has been the model of consistency in the 1A division. ey have not placed worse than fth since before 2005 and have won three titles in the last ve years.

“Each group that comes through, then you have special bonds with each one of those players. Just to see them love each other and bond together like that is better than the championship. It shows what you can do when you stay together,” Zylstra said.