Cyclones 7-game win streak snapped by Saintes

After three straight road wins and riding a 7-game win streak, the HCHS Cyclones girls basketball team returned home Friday night to take on the undefeated St. Albert Saintes losing 60-42 for their third loss of the season.

“We just talked about doing little things right,” said Cyclone Head Coach Zach Klaassen. “We had a ton of times where we were trying to run a half court offense, two or three people were in the wrong spot, somebody was running the wrong play, guards were making bad passes. Everybody had a hand in this one tonight.”

Cyclone Senior Aubrey Schwieso opened the game with a shot from 3-point range. Senior Saint Payton Johnsen answered back with a 3-pointer which turned into a 7-0 Saintes run before Sophomore Cyclone Kenzley Bruck got a shot at the basket to get her team back within two.

Just before the quarter came to an end, the Saintes got back-to-back shots from Sophomores Lexie Darrington and Alexa Lenz putting them up by nine. Schwieso managed to cut the lead back to seven before the quarter ended with two free throws.

Schwieso opened the second quarter with a mid-range floater, which was followed later by a 3-pointer from Senior Molly Swensen and a 3-point play involving Schwieso cutting the Saintes lead to 21-19.

The Saintes offense got going again when Sophomore Maura Ryan made multiple shots giving the Saintes a 30-24 lead at halftime.

“We needed to quit giving up penetration in the half court,” Klaassen said. “The half court defense needed to get better. She [Ryan] torched us tonight. She beat us like a drum.”

The third quarter began as a back-and-forth affair with the Cyclones continuing to trail by six. Sophomore Saint Eleanor Coughlin committed a steal, and drove to hoop for a layup, forcing a timeout from Klaassen.

Following Klaassen’s timeout, the Saintes offense got going with baskets from Ryan and Darrington. Cyclone Senior Grace Albertsen made the final shot of the quarter, but the Cyclones trailed 47-36.

The Cyclone offense opened the fourth quarter with a 4-0 run to bring the game back within single digits. Bruck scored the first basket, followed by a missed 3-pointer from Schwieso, but Albertsen was there to grab the rebound and get a shot at the bucket.

“That was good,” Klaassen said. “Anytime we have momentum, it seems like we just shoot ourselves in the foot. It’s hard to play basketball like that. It’s almost like we were worried about making mistakes instead of just playing.”

Following Albertsen’s bucket, the Saintes dominated the remainder of the quarter, closing out the game on a 13-2 run for their 12th win of the season. The Cyclones move to 7-3 overall. They return to the court Tuesday on the road against the 2-8 Glenwood Rams. The Rams are led by Sophomore Maggie McChesney 12.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, along with Freshman Malynn Johnson averaging 1.7 assists per game.

“We’ve just got to get out and go,” Klaassen said. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, otherwise this will snowball on us, so we’ve got to get over it, get back to work Monday, and get a game plan put in.”