Cyclones lose close battle to Falcons
In the fourth quarter with 4.1 seconds remaining in regulation with the St. Albert Falcons leading by two, the HCHS Cyclones boys basketball team inbounded the ball, got it to Senior Jozef Reisz, who went up for a layup, but couldn’t sink the shot and the Cyclones lost 56-54.
“He [Reisz] got fouled by three different guys,” said Cyclone Head Coach Mitch Osborn. “He got held and hacked on the shot, so it’s disappointing on your home floor. You’ve got to fight through it.”
Junior Falcon Noah Narmi opened the game with the first shot, but Reisz immediately responded with a shot at the basket to tie the game at two. Following Reisz’ shot, both teams exchanged buckets with the final shot of the quarter coming from 3-pointer range from Freshman Falcon Cooper Hamilton putting his team up 10-7.
Sophomore Cyclone Kobe Klaassen got his team back in the game only seconds into the second quarter with a 3-pointer tying the game at 10.
Shots continued to get exchanged when a scary moment for the Cyclones occurred when Senior Ben Leinen went up for a shot, landed awkwardly on his foot, left the game, and didn’t return.
“He’s got to get it x-rayed,” Osborn said of Leinen. “It’s not good. Hopefully nothing is broken, but right now it doesn’t look good.”
Following Leinen’s exit, both teams continued to match each other until Hamilton and Senior Falcon Joe Hughes made back-to-back buckets. However, Klaassen made a shot, was fouled in the act of shooting, and made the extra point to keep his team within striking distance as they trailed 23-20 at halftime.
“We felt like defensively we played great,” Osborn said. “Offensively, we weren’t executing very well. Give St. Albert credit. We can’t have those scoring droughts.”
Cyclones Junior Dallas McDowell got going in the second half with a 3-point shot, followed later by a shot at the basket to cut the Falcons lead to two. Hughes made a 3-pointer to force a timeout from Osborn. Following Osborn’s timeout, the Cyclone offense answered with back-to-back baskets from Senior Bryce Van Baale and Klaassen, but the Cyclones still trailed 39-35 entering the fourth quarter.
Junior Cyclone Gabe Arkfeld stepped up for his team on the offense end of the floor in the fourth quarter contributing with six points, which was followed by a bucket from McDowell tying the game at 46, forcing a timeout from St. Albert.
“Dallas came up big,” Osborn said. “Gabe Arkfeld did a great job. We’re so short-handed and we really can’t play man-to-man.”
The Cyclones got their first lead of the game when Reisz was sent to the free throw line making one of two buckets, putting his team up 49-48. Junior Falcon Nick Ballenger made a 3-point shot to get his team back in front, but Reisz tied the game immediately at 51 with a shot at the basket.
Unfortunately, the Cyclones couldn’t get over the hump dropping the game for their fourth loss of the season. They will be back in action Tuesday on the road against the 9-2 Glenwood Rams. The Rams are led by Senior Ayden Gibson averaging 19.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, along with Junior Jack Johnson averaging 3.6 assists.
“It’s going to be extremely tough at their place,” Osborn said. “They’re loaded. They’re 9-2, and we probably won’t have Ben [Leinen], and we’ll just have to go out and do our best.”
