“Could you slow down a little bit?” Not these North Linn Lynx

DES MOINES — It’s a unique style of play, one that can fluster and frustrate the bejeezus out of an opponent and force it into total submission.

When North Linn’s boys’ basketball team really, really gets it cranking, it creates turnover after turnover out of its trapping, pressure defense. Then layup after layup off of those turnovers.

The Lynx seem to run up and down the court non stop, scoring points in piles and leaving the other team gasping for air and praying for some sort of respite.

So it was Monday afternoon at the state tournament. The bigger floor at Wells Fargo Arena definitely was North Linn’s playground.

“I definitely enjoy playing on a longer court. I don’t think teams that we play against do,” North Linn’s Dylan Kurt said, after his team demolished North Mahaska, 89-43. “They’ll say stuff to us like ‘Could you slow down a little bit?’ I hear that often. A lot more than you might think.”

Did Kurt hear that Monday?

“I did hear it today, yep,” he said.

» Photos: North Linn vs. North Mahaska in Class 1A state basketball quarterfinals

North Linn (25-1) gave up the first four points of this game and then, well, read above for what happened after that. It was a 29-9 game at the end of the first quarter and 56-15 at the half.

North Mahaska (20-6) turned it over 22 times the first half. North Linn’s Tate Haughenbury had his own little slam-dunk contest going, picking up three of them, two off of his own steals and one off of a teammate’s.

“We came out with energy,” Haughenbury said. “We put a little pressure on them that I don’t think they’ve seen this season ... They didn’t handle it well. That’s just how we play our style, our tempo.”

Kurt had a game-high 19 points, with Haughenbury adding 18. Austin Hilmer had 13 points and 10 assists, Cade Haughenbury 14 points.

North Linn finished with 19 steals and 36 points off of turnovers.

“At the state tournament, that’s probably as well as we’ve played, for sure,” Hilmer said. “Just the dominance that we had. We’ve played like that this season, then there are games where we haven’t played like that. So it was good to get this win at the state tournament and keep going.”

North Linn faces Remsen St. Mary’s (25-0) in what should be a doozy of a semifinal Wednesday night at 7:15. The Lynx are seeking their fifth consecutive appearance in a state championship game.

This is their sixth straight trip to the state tournament, and they’ve won their quarterfinal game all six of those years. A simply incredible run.

“They always make fun of me,” said Coach Mike Hilmer. “Griff (assistant coach Travis Griffith) and I after practice yesterday, we said and always say ‘Well, hope you enjoyed your last practice’ ... The level of teams down here this year is really good. That team we just beat is a really good team. For them, it just came down to they haven’t seen the type of style we play. They just couldn’t respond to it. But, believe me, they are very good.”

Lane Harmon had 10 points to lead North Mahaska, which should be strong again next season considering its top four scorers are juniors. Another thing North Linn did in this game was shoot from distance, making 10 of 22 attempts.

That usually doesn’t happen down here because of the longer court and an open shooting background that’s way different than high school gyms. Then, again, if there’s any team used to playing here, it’s these guys.

“We know we have to respect every opponent,” Kurt said. “Respect every opponent, fear nobody. We’re playing with a lot of confidence as a group. Me, Ben (Wheatley), Austin, we’re all letting it fly from deep ... When you have that confidence from deep, it just opens up the lane.”

AT DES MOINES

NORTH MAHASKA (43): Lane Harmon 4-10 0-0 10, Ethan Huffman 1-1 0-0 2, Sean Knockel 2-7 0-0 4, Braden Steel 4-6 1-1 9, Nash Smith 1-8 2-2 4, Brayden Veiseth 0-1 0-2 0, Drake Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Nate Sampson 1-2 0-0 2, Chase Grandia 2-2 0-0 5, Nolan Anderson 2-2 2-2 7, Dodge Duke 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-39 5-7 43.

NORTH LINN (89): Ben Wheatley 2-6 0-0 6, Cade Haughenbury 5-10 4-6 14, Dylan Kurt 7-10 2-2 19, Austin Hilmer 6-15 0-2 13, Tate Haughenbury 8-8 2-2 18, Gunner Vanourney 0-1 0-0 0, Mason Bechen 2-2 1-2 5, Ty Pflughaupt 2-3 0-0 6, Trey McEnany 0-1 0-0 0, Tate Collum 1-2 0-0 3, Breckyn Betenbender 1-2 0-0 3, Cole Griffith 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Van Etten 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Ries 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Rechkemmer 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 35-61 9-14 89.

Halftime - North Linn 56, North Mahaska 15. 3-point goals - North Mahaska 4-11 (Harmon 2-6, Steel 0-1, Smith 0-2, Grandia 1-1, Anderson 1-1), North Linn 10-22 (Wheatley 2-4, Kurt 3-5, Hilmer 1-5, Betenbender 1-2, Pflughaupt 2-3, Collum 1-2). Rebounds - North Mahaska 20 (Harmon 6), North Linn 32 (C. Haughenbury, Hilmer 5). Total fouls - North Mahaska 14, North Linn 8. Fouled out - None. Assists - North Mahaska 7 (Huffman, Grandia 2), North Linn 21 (Hilmer 10).

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