Hayes sparks late Hawks surge in district win

DONNELLSON — Central Lee’s defense has gotten the Hawks through the occasional offensive struggles that can pop up during a game.
It got the Hawks through a scoreless second quarter in Thursday’s Class 2A District 9 semifinal against West Burlington, and got them through to the next round.
The 44-39 win on the Hawks’ home court was built on their mentality that has worked so well all season.
Central Lee (15-7) advanced to next Tuesday’s district final at No. 3 Iowa City Regina (21-1) by keeping West Burlington (13-9) from getting a lead, even if the Hawks went the entire second quarter — actually, 9:35 in total from the last minute of the first quarter to early in the third quarter — without a point.
“It’s super important that we have a strong defensive foundation when we have those droughts like that,” said senior Will Hayes, who scored nine of his 10 points in the fourth quarter to spark the Hawks’ late run. “Hopefully we don’t have any more that are as extreme as that. But every game has a few minutes when a team goes scoreless, and you have to have a strong defense to fall back so your team doesn't fall apart. And we did a good job of that tonight.”
Asked if he thought his team could win a game without scoring a point in a quarter, Central Lee coach Jonny Swanson said, “With the defense we play? Yeah.”
Central Lee led West Burlington 18-7 at the end of the first quarter, but the Falcons could only score eight second-quarter points, hitting just three field goals.
“It helps when we score 18 in the first quarter,” Swanson said. “We got off to a really hot start, and that's what we've been kind of preaching this week. I kind of thought one of the keys to this game was that both teams recently have kind of struggled in the first quarter. And I told the guys yesterday, I said, ‘Whoever can come out and set the tone in the first quarter is going to win this game.’ And that came to be true. We got up 11, and I don't think we ever surrendered the lead. So, props for our guys, the way we fight.”

“We’ve struggled to come out strong sometimes, and now going forward in the postseason, that's a really big focus that the coaches have been talking about,” Hayes said. “We have been talking about needing to come out strong and set the tone early.”
Swanson credited West Burlington’s defense for keeping Central Lee from getting easy shots in the second quarter.
“We were getting to within four or five feet of the basket, but we weren't getting layups,” he said. “They held us to some short floaters, and we just couldn't convert.And then we were having trouble getting second-chance opportunities, because they rebound so well.”
The Hawks kept their lead throughout the second half, even though the Falcons would make runs at them. West Burlington got within one point late in the third quarter, and was within 41-39 with 1:35 to play before Central Lee closed out the win.
Hayes was able to work inside throughout the final quarter.
“Nothing too special,” Hayes said. “I would post up and be in a position and they would look for me. I have a good connection with all the guards on the team to get it in and I'll get a bucket. Or if it's not there, I'll pass it out.”
“We’ve kind of hounded him a little bit like, hey, it's OK to be selfish sometimes,” Swanson said. “If we don't draw something up for him or whatever, he has the green light to go get the ball and get to the rim and get to the basket. So we kind of figured that out in the fourth quarter a little bit, he was taking the ball hard to the rim, and got fouled a couple times or made shots.”
Owen Swan and Kaden Swan each had 11 points for Central Lee. Ayden Figuereo led West Burlington with 12 points.
“It’s a win, and that’s what matters this time of year, whether it’s by one or a hundred,” Swanson said.