Cyclones offense gets shut down in 2nd half
The HCHS Cyclones boys basketball team’s offense couldn’t keep up with the Kuemper Catholic Knights Tuesday night at home, getting beat 90-61 for their first loss of the season.
“They’re phenomenal,” said Cyclone Head Coach Mitch Osborn. “They’re the real deal. We’re a work in progress, and we’re going to get better. I thought we had a lot of improvement offensively from the Shenandoah game to here.”
The Knights took an early 11-3 before Osborn called a timeout.
When play resumed, the Cyclones scored the next four baskets with a basket from Junior Gabe Arkfeld, a 3-pointer from Junior Dallas McDowell, and a 3-point play from Senior Jozef Reisz where he was fouled on a made shot driving to the hoop, sinking the free throw tying the game at 11.
Jack Badding got the Knights back in front with a 3-pointer, which was followed by a basket from Reisz with two 3-pointers from Sophomore Cyclone Colton Schneider later on in the quarter as the Cyclones trailed 28-21 at the end of the first quarter.
“Offensively, the first half, I was happy with the way we were playing,” Osborn said. “I thought Colton Schneider was a spark. He came in and gave us a couple of 3’s. It was good to see that.”
The first two shots of the second quarter came from Tregan Beiter and Jack Badding, which was followed by back-to-back shots from Reisz and Ben Leinen. Badding came down the court and made another 3-pointer, putting his team up 35-25.
Sophomore Knight Dylan Schon made three consecutive baskets to widen the lead before Junior Cyclone Dallas McDowell put a stop to his run with a 3-pointer.
“He’s a 3-level player,” Osborn said of McDowell. “He can hit a 3-pointer, he has a great pull-up, 12-15 footer off the dribble. He can attack the rim and get to the free throw line. That’s what makes him a very tough point guard. The first three minutes of the third quarter, we’ve got to put a run together, get some stops. Unfortunately, they go on a 14-6 run of their own, so instead of being down 17, now you’re down 25. If it’s the other way around, then you cut it to single digits. That was the goal to get single digits by the end of the third quarter.”
In the fourth quarter, the Cyclones managed to get back-to-back three pointers from Leinen and Bryce Van Baale, but following that, the Knights went on a 6-0 run easily winning the game.
The Cyclones will return to action Friday on the road at 7:30 p.m. against the 0-3 Denison Monarchs. The Monarchs are led by Camdyn Nimitz averaging 5.5 points per game, Roman Bygness averaging four rebounds per game, and Nash Langenfeld averaging 1.5 assists per game.
“We’ve got to take care of ourselves,” Osborn said. “Sometimes we worry about the other team. They graduated a lot of guys last year and we’ve got to clean a lot of things up, try to get better.”
