Unable to counter the lethal one-two punch of Washington’s Aleena Hobbs and Dani Franklin, the Linn-Mar Lions were laid low on their home floor Friday night, 54-33.

Franklin had 17 points and Hobbs 15 to lead the No.8 Warriors (14-3, 8-2).

The two juniors were also the main cogs in their team’s rebounding machine, with Hobbs pulling down 11 and Franklin eight.

The Warriors’ domination on the boards (40-28) allowed them to take 70 shots, 24 more than the the Lions.

Good thing for them that they had that many attempts, too, since they made just 16 for a lowly 22.8 percent.

And from 3-point range, a potent part of their offense all year, they were only two for 25 (a puny 8 percent).

“Our shooting was up and down,” Washington Coach Frank Howell acknowledged. “But overall, I thought we played a pretty good game.

“We kept getting stops on the other end. Our ball security was good. And we did pretty well defending the three.”

Indeed, the Warriors forced 20 Linn-Mar turnovers to only seven miscues of their own.  And the Lions’ only 3-point basket came on the last score of the game with one minute left after they’d missed their first 11 long ones.

For the night, Linn-Mar was 12 for 46 from the field (26 percent).

“You just can’t turn the ball over as many times as we did tonight,” said Lions Coach Michael Brandt.  “We gave up too many transition baskets, and they got a lot of easy points.”

He also bemoaned Washington’s rebounding prowess.

“We got beat inside,” Brandt said. “They’re very athletic, big and strong under the basket. We tried to block out but couldn’t do it.

“We just gave up too many offensive boards.”

For his part, Howell noted that overpowering board play compensated for the poor shooting touch.

“We crashed the boards all night, especially on the offensive end. That gave us a lot of second and third shot opportunities.”

Any notion the Lions (7-11, 4-6 MVC) might have entertained of an upset evaporated by halftime.

With Hobbs scoring 12 points and Franklin six, the road Warriors raced to a 29-15 lead.

“We wanted to get consecutive stops and contain the three,” Hobbs pointed out. “We just stuck with that plan throughout the game.”

And, added Franklin, “When we rebound, we play better. We’re able to get quick outlet passes and run the floor.

“We also did a good job tonight switching offenses when they switched defense.”

Franklin took over the scoring load for Washington in the second half.  After taking a nice feed from Hobbs, her traditional three-point play on a layup and one free throw stretched the lead to 23 with six minutes to go.

A free throw by Hobbs and two more from Franklin made it a 26-point game before the reserves took over.

Next up for the Warriors is a date Saturday night at Waukee, ranked ninth  in Class 5A and a likely roadblock if Washington is to make it to the state tournament.

The win over Linn-Mar coupled with Prairie’s double-overtime loss at Iowa City West leaves the Warriors in sole possession of first place in the Valley Division of the MVC.

WASHINGTON (54): Abby Herb 1 3-4 5, Aleena Hobbs 4 7-8 15, Colby Bjornsen 4 0-0 8, Madison Kramer 2 1-2 6, Dani Franklin 4 8-9 17, Sophie Malcolm 0 0-0 0, Devin Glenski 0 1-2 1, Aalyiah Campbell 0 0-0 0, Kiki West-Doyle 0 0-0 0, MJ Kamin 0 0-0 0, McKenna Angelloti 0 0-0 0, Sophie Ochs 0 0-0 0, Callie Cook 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 20-25 54.

LINN-MAR (33): Mykaela Brandt 3 2-2 8, Sara Strauel 4 0-3 8, Jenna Harms 0 1-2 1, Kristen Eiles 0 0-0 0, Courtney Major 1 5-6 7, Taylor Robertson 1 0-0 3, Hannah Yearling 0 0-0 0, Michal Christopher 0 0-0 0, Aryn Jones 0 0-0 0, Emily Makinster 0 0-0 0, Anna Foley 0 0-0 0, Alexis Libenguth 3 0-2 6. Totals 12 8-15 33.

Halftime – Washington 29, Linn-Mar 15. 3-point goals – Washington 2 (Kramer, Franklin), Linn-Mar 1 (Robertson). Total fouls – Washington 16, Linn-Mar 16. Fouled out – none.