Cyclones hand Saintes their first loss of the season
Sophomore Aubrey Schwieso led the way with 17 points for the Cyclones Friday night at home against the St. Albert Saintes en route to a 49-33, handing St. Albert their first loss of the season.
“She [Schwieso] knows the game so well,” said Cyclones Head Coach Zach Klaassen. “She’s doing a great job getting us into our offense and getting things taken care of, moving the ball around to, not just scoring points. She’s a good basketball player and we’re happy to have her.”
The game got off to a fast start with both teams scoring point-for-point with the Saintes holding on to a 12-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Cyclones were trailing by three points when Senior Ella Plagman hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 15 and get the Harlan crowd to its feet. Soon after, Junior Ava Monson put the Cyclones ahead with a 3-point shot of her own.
A few more minutes passed by when Junior Hannah Sonderman threw up a 3-point shot to put the Cyclones up by six, which forced St. Albert head coach Richard Wettengel to call a timeout with four and a half minutes to go.
The timeout didn’t affect the Cyclones as they kept their foot on the gas pedal when Junior Erica Rust dropped a bucket and was fouled, forcing her to the line where she added the extra point to give the Cyclones a nine point lead.
The Cyclones took a 14-point lead into the locker room at half with Schwieso and Rust leading the way with nine points apiece.
“Do not let up,” Klaassen said. “Defensively, I thought we kept the same amount of energy we had in the first half, but offensively it felt like in the third quarter in the first few minutes, we may have missed a bucket or two, or we made a pass that ended up being a turnover.”
The third quarter got going with the Saintes coming out of the gate more aggressively than they did in the first half, cutting the Cyclones lead to seven points that forced Klaassen to call a timeout.
The Cyclones were able to find an offensive groove when Schwieso threw up a 3-pointer that put Harlan up by 10 points. Sophomore Molly Swensen came in off the bench for the Cyclones hitting two 3-point shots for the Cyclones soon after that expanded their lead by 16. Wettengel called another timeout.
“That one to end the third quarter, we needed that one big time with the energy ending the third quarter going into the fourth,” Klaassen said. “That was a huge momentum swing.”
The Cyclones didn’t let up in the fourth quarter cruising to victory and handing the Saintes their first loss on the season.
“Coming off that game Tuesday night, we were not ready to go,” Klaassen added. “To come in tonight and execute the game the way we asked them to execute it was fantastic. Our kids bounced back, showed a lot of heart and grit and got it done.”
The Cyclones next match will be Tuesday night at 6 p.m. on the road against the Glenwood Rams. The Rams will look for redemption against the Cyclones after Harlan beat them at home 60-56 on Dec. 13.
The Rams are led by Senior Jenna Hopp with 223 points, 127 rebounds and 28 assists, who’s averaging 24.8 points a game.
“We should have a little bit of energy and some confidence,” Klaassen said. “I guarantee Glenwood hasn’t forgotten what happened up here, so they’re going to be ready to go. If we don’t match their physicality and their energy, it could be a long night for us, so we got to come ready to go.”