Cyclone girls open January with impressive victory

HCHS starts fast, holds Lewis Central to seven second-half points in snapping eight-game series slide, 52-30

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (Jan. 5) -- Considering the opponent, place and history, Harlan Community’s 52-30 win at Lewis Central Tuesday night checked all the boxes as one of the Cyclone girls basketball team’s most impressive performances in recent memory.
 Coming out of the gates with hot shooting and strong rebounding, HCHS also played excellent man-to-man defense throughout, shared the ball often, finished in traffic and scored in transition.
 It all added up to the end of an eight-game slide against the Titans, whose last loss to Harlan was in December of 2015 against a Cyclone state qualifier.
 Tuesday’s matchup saw the 12th-ranked (Class 4A) Cyclones build a 17-7 lead in the opening six minutes, then dominate the second half 25-7 after LC had rallied to tie the score late in the second quarter.
 The only thing missing was a conference win as the official Hawkeye Ten meeting between the schools will not occur until the Titans visit Harlan on February 5. HCHS is 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the H-10.
 “That’s (the most) complete game we’ve played in a long time. Everything was kind of clicking,” said HCHS head coach Zach Klaassen. “We got a couple wide open (shots) and they went down and you could see the confidence started to grow a little bit.
 “We had o-boards and putbacks early. It was fantastic. But I think the best part of our game tonight was our defense... That third and fourth quarter were pretty dang impressive.”
 Up 27-23 at halftime, the Cyclones opened the third quarter with four nearly identical tip-out steals and layups as LC was running its half court offense. Brecken Van Baale had the first one, then Macie Leinen, then two in a row by Ashley Hall. HCHS won the quarter 16-4 as Raegen Wicks and Caitlyn Leinen both added a three-pointer and Wicks scored on a drive at the horn off a sideline out-of-bounds play.
 Titan freshman Lucy Scott opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a three to cut the margin to 43-30, but LC would not score the rest of the game.
 The Cyclones’ balanced scoring attack was led by Claire Schmitz with 12 points - all in the first half and all in the lane. Van Baale knocked down three treys on the night and scored 11 points, followed by Jocelyn Cheek with seven points, Macie Leinen and Hall with six each and Wicks and Caitlyn Leinen both with five.
 Claire Schmitz grabbed six of the team’s 13 offensive boards and had 14 total rebounds, leading HCHS to a 42-26 advantage on the glass.
 McKenna Pettepier paced the Titans (4-3, 3-1 H-10) with 13 points and seven rebounds.

 
 

 

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