North Linn boys spoil Madrid’s first state basketball appearance
In the Class 1A state quarterfinals matchup between the No. 2 North Linn Lynx and the No. 7 Madrid Tigers, it was a battle between two teams with very different levels of tournament experience.
Whereas the Lynx were reigning Class 1A state champions, the Tigers were making their first appearance at the tourney.
In the end, experience won out as the Lynx held on for the 72-63 win.
While Tigers head coach Brian Surratt would have preferred a different result, he said that he is happy that his players showed that they could compete on this level.
"I am proud of our kids and how resilient they were," Surratt said. "North Linn are defending state champions, so that comes with a lot of pressure, especially when you are playing three sophomore guards who have never been in a venue like this."
Though in the early portions of the game, when it looked like neither team was able to generate much separation, that changed as North Linn's sophomore guard Mason Bechen started to get more settled into the game.
In the first quarter, he led all scorers with 13 points, shooting an impressive 71% from the field.
In fact, he wound up singlehandedly outscoring Madrid 13 points to their 11.
Bechen said he felt like he was able to get the better of whoever was tasked with guarding him.
"I just knew that we had to keep attacking them," Bechen said. "I felt like whoever they put on me could not guard me, so I just kept on shooting."
Just as it seemed like Madrid was beginning to gain some steam in the second quarter, fouls halted the Tigers’ progress.
At one point, they had gotten their deficit down to three points after back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore guard Toryn Severson made it a 25-22 game.
However, North Lynn went on to outscore them 9-3, which included seven points coming from the free throw line.
Coming out of halftime, points were coming with ease for both teams. They combined for a game-high 44 points in the third quarter, with North Linn taking a 13-point lead.
Recognizing that the Tigers were susceptible to getting into more foul trouble, the Lynx pounded the paint, most notably with senior forward Tate Haughenbury. He led the team with eight points in the third quarter, with all of them coming in the paint.
While North Linn boasted an advantage in the post, Madrid was dominating when it came to outside shots.
Madrid hit some 3-pointers in the final period to get its deficit down to just five points with less than two minutes to go.
However, the comeback efforts were thwarted after a 3-pointer by Bechen seemingly put North Linn back in firm control.
Getting their first win out of the way, the Lynx's head coach Mike Hilmer said that his team will have less nerves moving forward.
"No matter how many times you have been down here, not every kid has been here," Hilmer said. "So, getting this win felt like us getting the monkey off of our backs. We made some mistakes, but we came back and made some big plays after that."
North Linn will take the court again on Wednesday against the winner between No. 3 Gladbrook-Reinbeck and No. 6 Remsen, St. Mary's in a Class 1A state semifinal at 7:15 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: North Linn cuts Madrid's state tournament short with quarterfinal win
