The formula for success

Mixing together better shooting, fewer turnovers and more scoring output, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn came up with a winning formula to defeat South O'Brien, 54-43, on Jan. 18 at Paullina.

The Hawks had the advantage in several categories: more shot attempts from the floor and more made baskets; a 25-23 advantage in rebounds; 15 turnovers compared to 23 for the Wolverines; and 21 points from Jasmine Lux compared to 12 for South O'Brien's Kenna Bauer.

Lydia Harders contributed 12 points, Kylee Schiphoff scored eight, Emily Otto scored seven and Elise Haack added six.

Lux also grabbed 13 rebounds, Schiphoff had four rebounds and Otto had three. Emily Mutombo and Otto each came up with two steals.

H-M-S extended its lead from two points to 20-9 at the midpoint of the first half, but South O'Brien fought back to pull to within 22-21 at half time. The Hawks rebuilt the lead to eight in the third quarter and were up 47-31 with five minutes to play. South O'Brien could not get the deficit under 10 the rest of the game.

• vs. Remsen St. Mary's

H-M-S was on the road Jan. 20 to take on Remsen St. Mary's (No. 15 1A). The hosts lived up to that rating in a 78-32 win.

St. Mary's outscored H-M-S, 24-4, in the first quarter to take control of the game. H-M-S trailed 36-14 at half time and was outscored by a 42-18 margin the second half.

Lux scored 10 points, and Gracie Knobloch and Harders each scored seven. H-M-S made 12-of-39 shots from the floor and 6-of-11 at the foul line, and committed 31 turnovers.

Leading rebounders were Harders with eight, Haack with six and Lux with five. Knobloch and Mutombo each had two steals.

St. Mary's had four players score in double figures, shot 51.5 percent from the floor and came up with 24 steals.

• vs. West Sioux

Slow starts to both halves hampered H-M-S during a 59-44 loss to West Sioux on Jan. 21 at Hawarden.

The Hawks trailed 14-8 at the end of the first quarter but played nearly even with the Falcons over the next eight minutes. They were then outscored, 17-9, in the third quarter before playing even in the fourth. Combined, West Sioux won the first and third quarters by 14 points, just one point short of their final margin of victory.

Knobloch led H-M-S with 16 points, Lux scored 10, Harders scored nine, and Mutombo and Schiphoff each scored four. The Hawks made just 15-of-53 attempts from the field.

Lux finished with seven rebounds and three steals; Harders had six rebounds; Mutombo had four rebounds; while Douma and Otto each had three.

H-M-S fell to 4-9 overall and 0-6 in the War Eagle Conference. The Hawks' next four games are at home: Jan. 27 vs. Boyden-Hull, Jan. 28 vs. Hinton, Jan. 31 vs. MMCRU (1A No. 6) and Feb. 1 vs. Harris-Lake Park.