Cyclones drop season opener in second half
The Cyclones offense couldn’t match the Treynor Cardinals offense Tuesday as the Cardinals cruised to a 64-50 victory, earning their second win of the season, and handing the Cyclones their first loss.
“It’s a long season ahead,” said Cyclone Head Coach Zach Klaassen. “All our goals are ahead of us. Nothing has been taken away from us, but the things I said would cost us down the road I didn’t know would cost us this soon, but they did.”
The first basket of the game came from Sophomore Cyclone Kenzley Bruck a little over two minutes into the match, followed by a shot from Senior Grace Albertsen, giving the Cyclones an early 4-0 lead. However, the Cardinal offense answered back when Junior Ella Thornton made a shot from 3-point range, cutting the Cyclone lead down to one.
Albertsen managed to get a few more baskets for the Cyclones, but the Cardinals closed out the quarter with a 13-4 run with multiple shots from Junior Nora Konz and many 3-pointers leading 18-12.
The Cyclones punched back entering the second quarter with buckets from Albertsen and Senior Molly Swensen, forcing a timeout from Cardinal head coach Joe Chapman.
Shortly after Chapman’s timeout, the Cardinal offense got going again with back-to-back 3-point shots from Junior Claire Schrage in a back-and-forth affair with the final shot of the half coming from Bruck putting the Cyclones down 31-29 at halftime.
“We clawed our way back and it’s basically where it was at the start of the game,” Klaassen said. “We were down one possession, not a big deal. I thought we had a pretty decent third quarter until the last few minutes, we kind of folded.”
In the third quarter, the Cyclones got their first lead since the opening minutes of the game when Albertsen was fouled and made two free throws, putting her team up 35-33. Soon after, Bruck made a shot up at the basket expanding the Cyclone lead by four points.
The Cardinal offense once again came alive, rallying to tie the game at 37 when a timeout was called midway through the quarter. When play resumed, Schrage scored putting her team back in front by two. From then on, the Cardinal offense took command of the game, closing out the quarter on a 5-0 run leading 45-39.
Freshman Cardinal Addison Mauer continued their run into the fourth quarter, scoring the next four points until Schwieso put an end to it with a basket, but the Cardinals still held a 49-41 lead.
The Cardinal offense continued to take control, closing out the game, handing the Cyclones their first loss. The Cyclones return to action Tuesday, taking on Hawkeye Ten opponent, the St. Albert Saintes. The Saintes finished last season 23-2 making it to the Class 1A State Semifinal, losing 60-37 to North Linn.
The Saintes were led by Avah Underwood averaging 11.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, along with Lily Krohn averaging 4.4 assists per game.
“We’ll get back it at tomorrow morning,” Klaassen said. “You can’t have your head down. You’ve got to be ready to come to work and do what’s needed to get better and get back in the win column.”