HARLAN -- Ethan Knudson’s 19 points led 13 Harlan Community players in the scoring column Friday night as the 3rd-ranked Cyclones utilized their reserves early and often in a 76-41 win over Clarinda. HCHS built a 51-21 halftime lead and cruised the rest of the way, improving to 10-1 overall and 7-0 in conference play.

 CLARINDA -- The Harlan Community girls outscored Clarinda 22-3 in the second quarter Friday night en route to a 58-21 Hawkeye Ten road win. Playing its first game as the new number-one ranked team in Class 4-A, HCHS improved to 6-0 in conference games and 11-1 overall.

 ELK HORN -- Sophia Peppers dominated in the post for 29 points and 10 rebounds Friday night as the shorthanded Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton girls handled Charter Oak-Ute 64-40.

 ELK HORN -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton finished the first half on a 12-2 run and never looked back Friday night, beating Charter Oak-Ute 70-51 in Rolling Valley Conference action. The Spartans led just 23-21 when Dakota Rold’s three-point play sparked the end-of-first-half surge. Exira-EHK also scored eight of the first 10 points in the second half to go up 43-25. 

 RED OAK -- The Harlan Community girls defended their team title at Tuesday’s Red Oak Bowling Tournament while the Cyclone boys placed second to Lewis Central behind Max Langenfeld’s overall high series score of 459. Only eight pins separated the top two girls teams when all was said and done. HCHS outscored Red Oak by 75 during the individual rounds, then hung on for a 2,434 to 2,426 victory following the Tigers’ Baker Games rally.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community girls and boys bowling teams both improved their dual record to 2-2 with wins over Creston on January 9 at Cyclone Lanes. HCHS won the girls dual, 2,218 to 2,184, led by Bailey Portwood’s two-game series of 347 and Elizabeth Stroud’s 331. The Creston girls’ record fell to 1-3. HCHS won the boys dual, 2,666 to 2,039, led by scores of 349 from Mason Chamberlain and Brody Sorensen and Max Langenfeld’s 345.

 HARLAN -- It’s possible that only a handful of people in the Harlan Community gymnasium knew the significance of the Cyclones’ three victories Tuesday night for head coach John Murtaugh. No announcements, no in-meet recogniton; and that was perfectly fine with Murtaugh, who was most pleased by his team putting on a good show for the home fans.

 HARLAN -- When you’ve got 10 seniors on the roster, mixed with talented juniors and sophomores, five-on-five practice drills can get downright intense at times. Which is why Harlan Community senior Kyle Juhl points to practice time as a big factor in the Cyclones’ rapid improvement since Christmas break. HCHS continued to impress on Monday night, putting a 10-0 run on Kuemper Catholic to start the third quarter - increasing an eight-point lea

 HARLAN -- When the Kuemper Catholic girls cut Harlan Community’s lead to 21-18 with just three minutes left in the first half, few could have imagined that the final margin would escalate to a staggering 41 points. But that’s exactly what happened here Monday night as the 2nd-ranked (Class 4-A) Cyclones dominated the final 19 minutes of a 69-28 rout of the Knights. HCHS (10-1 overall) scored the final 10 points of the first half, then added 2