Cyclone boys roar back on Titans, win 76-67

 HARLAN (Jan. 7) -- With 4:23 left in Tuesday’s third quarter, the outlook for the Harlan Community boys basketball was bleak.
 Lewis Central had rattled off 10 straight points - all in the paint - to surge ahead 48-33 and the Cyclones were searching for answers in their second timeout of the second half.
 “We could have quit. We could have folded. It looked dim,” said HCHS head coach Mitch Osborn.
 Basketball is a game of runs, however, and the events that transpired over the next seven minutes are an extreme example of momentum shifting on a dime.
 The eighth-ranked (3A) Cyclones scored the next 14 points and used a 19-3 run to lead 52-51 after three. They added a 9-0 run early in the fourth and eventually finished off the Titans 76-67 in a wild non-conference battle.
 Four nights after being held to 38 points in a home loss to Abraham Lincoln, HCHS doubled that total as senior Connor Bruck poured in a career-high 32 points and junior Michael Erlemeier also maxed out with 18.
 The Cyclones improved to 7-1 overall and remained 5-0 in the Hawkeye Ten. The return trip to LC (5-3, 4-0) in February will count toward the conference standings.
 “So very proud of these guys,” Osborn said. “It takes a lot of courage and fight and determination not to quit... and we were led by our seniors... Erlemeier was huge and Connor Bruck was huge and Johnny Monson played extremely well. Michael Heithoff didn’t feel well but he got enough big rebounds for us (eight) and had (four) assists.”

 The Cyclones’ pivotal 19-3 run started with a fast break bucket by Erlemeier and a nice drive by Bruck. Both players also hit a three-pointer during the spurt and combined for 16 of the 19 points. Lewis Central, meanwhile, began to rush things after Harlan switched to a man-to-man defense and became very careless with the basketball, committing several of their nine total turnovers during the crazy turnaround.
 Bruck’s final line included 32 points, three treys, four rebounds and four steals as he scored from all three levels. Erlemeier finished with 18 on 6-of-9 shooting, Monson racked up a double-double with 14 points and 13 boards and Heithoff scored six.
 Noah Rigatuso, a talented 6’5” slasher, attacked the rim for many of his team-high 23 points for LC, which also got 12 points each from Jones and Cole Drummond.