Mason hits for 26 as Hawks down WB

DONNELLSON – Lizzy Mason plays a lot of basketball. Central Lee Head Coach Taylor Hickey is happy about that.
Mason scored 26 in Friday’s 56-41 win over West Burlington to lead Central Lee as the Lady Hawks moved to 8-4 in SEI Super Conference girls basketball action.
The win puts the Hawks in a tie for third in the conference and 9-7 overall with conference front runner Mediapolis (12-0, 15-1) on tap Tuesday at home.
Mason plays AAU basketball prior to the season and said there was a bit of a stumbling block coming into the season. But that’s been worked out.
“At the beginning of the season coming off of AAU I had a rough start shooting,” she said. “I just started to get my confidence back with each game so that helps me with teammates scoring, too. Almost all of us put points on the board tonight and I’m so proud of us for that.”
But it took a while for the ball to start going in Friday night. West Burlington sprinted out to a 7-0 lead highlighted by four early points from Lydia Armstrong.
The Hawks missed their first five shots from the field and didn’t get on the board until Ellie Lake converted with 2:30 left in the opening period. Mason would get a steal on the Falcons’ next possession and convert to get the engine going.
Armstrong would hit again, this time from 3-point range for a 10-4 lead, but Mason would answer. West Burlington would stretch the lead to 14-8 at the end of one when senior Lyndsey Kelley converted inside.
Out of the break the shooting woes slipped to side as the Hawks went on a 10-2 run capped by another Mason bucket to tie things up at 18. Armstrong would stop the run temporarily with a bucket and another 2-point lead for the Falcons, but a Kenna Sandoval free throw and a Macy Doty 3-ball gave the Hawks a lead they wouldn’t give up the rest of the night.
Mason would then hit back-to-back 3-pointers while the defense held WB scoreless for almost five minutes building a 28-20 lead.  Isabella Callison would hit a 3-ball with :30 left in the half to cut into the lead, but Central Lee would take a 30-24 lead into the break.
The Hawks would stretch the lead to 11 in the third period and pull away from there.

Mason said Hickey gives her the green light to shoot and the sophomore understands that’s to open up the offense for the Hawks.
“It gives me confidence to shoot and it’s a great environment for us knowing that (Coach Hickey) won’t be mad at us for trying,” she said.
Mason said that can carry into the post-season.
“I’m excited especially how we’ve been proving ourselves against tough teams at the top of our conference. I think we can make it further than we did last year in the post season.”
Hickey said Mason does have the green light, but so do others.
“She does have the green light. If she stops shooting or hesitates she gets in her head. At the beginning of the season you could see she was trying to force and score, but after a couple games she started valuing the assists. Once that happened it calmed her down a little bit and she could find her rhythm,” Hickey said.
She said the pace was a little different in a very long third period, but it made the girls focus on defense.
“Tonight we focused on defense and if they weren’t giving 100% they needed to come out because 50% to 60% won’t cut it,” she said.
With Mediapolis coming on Tuesday and the post-season not far off, Hickey said the girls will have to get more competitive.
“We just need to play. We’ve got to be more competitive in practice. Some full court five-on-fives. I limited that in the early season to focus on skills and drill work, dribbling and shooting, but now we have to get comfortable penetrating through a zone and having hands all over us and making smart decisions. That only happens with being competitive.”
Sandoval was also in double figures for the Hawks with 12. Jayden Mueller had six. Armstrong and Kelley each had a dozen to lead West Burlington.