Cheek’s late three lifts HCHS girls past Saintes 44-42

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (Dec. 1) -- The Harlan Community girls basketball team improved to 2-0 here Tuesday night with another hard-fought road win, outlasting 12th-ranked (1A) St. Albert 44-42 in a non-conference matchup.
 HCHS senior Jocelyn Cheek drained a go-ahead three-pointer in the last 30 seconds that turned out to be the game-winning shot.
 The Cyclones led 11-5 after one quarter but were outscored 29-19 during the middle two periods. They trailed 34-30 before outscoring the Saintes 14-8 in the fourth.
 HCHS overcame a cold shooting night (28 percent overall, 6-of-29 threes, 6-of-14 free throws) by playing solid defense.
 Cheek, Claire Schmitz and Brecken Van Baale led the Cyclones with 11 points each, Macie Leinen scored six points and Ashley Hall had four. Van Baale and Cheek both hit three treys and also had four assists.
 Claire Schmitz and Van Baale led the rebounding effort with eight and seven, respectively. Macie Leinen and Cheek both added four steals and Leinen also blocked four shots.