Rams pull away late, end Cyclone girls basketball season

HCHS hangs with 13th-ranked Glenwood for two-plus quarters before faltering in 4A regional game, 49-35

 GLENWOOD (Feb. 13) -- No one ever doubted the hustle and grit of this year’s Harlan Community girls basketball team.
 And for two and a half quarters Wednesday night, those attributes allowed the Cyclones to hang around with 13th-ranked Glenwood in a Class 4A, Region 2 first-round game.
 In the end, however, the same transgressions that have plagued HCHS all season - turnovers and cold shooting - reared their ugly head once more and prevented the brewing of an upset.
 Leading just 25-20 at the half, Glenwood outscored the Cyclones 17-5 in the third quarter - culminating with a 10-0 run - and advanced to the semifinal round with a 49-35 home victory. The Rams, who also defeated Harlan twice in the regular season by 28 and 21 points, improved to 17-4 and will play at No. 10 Lewis Central (17-3) on Saturday (Feb. 16).
 The Cyclones finished 5-17 overall and suffered a second straight season-ending loss to Glenwood, which also knocked out the Cyclone softball and volleyball teams in 2018.
 The Rams applied a zone press during much of the game, which was physical, fast-paced and often out of control both ways. HCHS shot 27.5 percent from the field (14-of-51) and was listed with 14 turnovers - though that number may be a bit conservative.
 Claire Schmitz and Brecken Van Baale led HCHS with eight points each and Macie Leinen added seven while battling foul trouble. Van Baale grabbed seven rebounds (four offensive) and Ashley Hall had eight of the team’s 13 assists.
 With just five wins, the 2018-19 season goes in the history books as the least successful in the 46-year history of the HCHS girls basketball program. The 1997-98 team finished 6-14 and the 2003-04 squad went 6-15.
 But despite the frustrating nature of losing games, Cyclone coach Zach Klaassen says he is proud of the girls for never quitting on the season or taking plays off.
 “I just liked the effort,” he said. “Everybody in (that locker room) has bruised knees or skinned-up knees or whatever else. They never quit. That team’s got five wins. There’s a lot of teams that would have mailed it in at Christmas and ho-hummed it through the season... Our energy never dropped. Our want to win never dropped. We didn’t let our record get in the way of our competitiveness.”

 
 

 

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1114 7th Street
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