Seventh-ranked Monarchs top Cyclone girls 46-30

 DENISON (Jan. 24) -- The Harlan Community girls basketball team hung with Denison-Schleswig for nearly a half Thursday night, but couldn’t generate enough offense to complement a pretty solid defensive effort in a 46-30 loss to the seventh-ranked (4A) Monarchs.
 Trailing just 19-17 following Chloe Hansen’s second 3-pointer of the first half - and the team’s fourth - the Cyclones were outscored 9-0 to end the second quarter and managed just two free throws in the third to fall behind 34-19. They cut the margin to nine points in the fourth but D-S put together a 12-2 run to pull away.
 HCHS shot just 20 percent overall (10-of-50) and was outrebounded 36-15 by the taller Monarchs, who improved to 13-1 overall and 7-0 in the Hawkeye Ten. The Cyclones dropped to 3-11 overall and 2-7 in the conference.
 “I thought defensively we were pretty good, outside of second-chance points (we allowed)... That really cost us,” said HCHS coach Zach Klaassen. “We just couldn’t get the ball to fall. I thought we had some good looks from outside. I thought we did a good job of driving and kicking, but we just couldn’t hit any threes tonight. We did hit some early, but then it shut off pretty quick... It just wasn’t our night offensively.”
 The Cyclones missed an opportunity for a potential rally in the third quarter when they held D-S to six points but scored only two.
 Hansen, who left the game in the third quarter after hitting the floor hard - chin first - on a steal attempt, tied Macie Leinen for the team lead with six points.
 Sophomore Paige Andersen had a productive game for the Monarchs, shooting well from inside and outside on her way to 19 points.