Cyclones return to win column over Panthers

The last time the HCHS Cyclones played the Creston Panthers, with 1.7 seconds left, Senior Panther Brayden School made a layup handing the Cyclones a 48-46 loss. The Cyclones however got back in the win column with a close victory of their own, 60-58.

“It was a great win considering it was our third game in four days,” said Cyclone Head Coach Mitch Osborn. “We’re down nine at the half looking pretty grim, but we finally turned the page in that third quarter going on a 10-0 run and got right back in the game.”

Offensively, the Cyclones had four players in double figures including, Seniors Jozef Reisz and Ben Leinen had 15 points, Junior Dallas McDowell had 13, and Kobe Klaassen had 12.

The Cyclones led 9-8 at the end of the first quarter, but struggled in the second quarter being outscored 25-15, trailing 33-24 at halftime.

The third quarter the Cyclones managed to get back on track, along with having an even better fourth quarter outscoring the Panthers 23-15.

“How it finished was they [Creston] were up four with 20 seconds left and Jozef got fouled with about nine seconds left,” Osborn said. “He made the first, missed the second. Kobe got the rebound, dished it to Ben, he gets fouled and makes both free throws.”

The Cyclones will play next Thursday on the road in their regular season finale against the 9-10 Carroll Tigers. The Tigers are led by Junior Jared Mohr averaging 13.5 points and 5.7 rebounds, along with Junior Mac Collison averaging 3.4 assists.

“We want to do our very best,” Osborn added. “It’s on the road, so it’ll be tough. Their conference top to bottom is better than ours this year. There’s no doubt. If we come out and play like we’re capable of, we have a shot. This time lives off of transition and layups.”

Cyclones fall to Cardinals at home

Thursday at home, the HCHS Cyclones faced off against the Treynor Cardinals dropping their contest 60-42.

“I thought defensively we played a great first half,” said Cyclone Head Coach Mitch Osborn. “Offensively, we’re still struggling a little bit, but we’re right there.”

The Cyclones came storming out of the gate leading 15-12 at the end of the first quarter, but the Cardinal offense got going in the second quarter rallying to tie the game at halftime at 24.

The Cardinals offense broke the game wide open in the third quarter outscoring the Cyclones 24-6. Throughout the game, the Cardinals were led by Senior Peter Young with 20 points, Junior Alec Lovely with 16 points, and Dane Gattau with six points.

“The third quarter was not a good start and that’s been a problem all year,” Osborn said. “We had a scoring drought. They [Treynor] outscored us with a 10-0 to start right away and all of sudden you’re down 10. They got very physical.”

The Cyclones had two players in double figures with Junior Dallas McDowell at 18 points and Sophomore Kobe Klaassen at 14. Senior Jozef Reisz also had eight points.

“Both of them [McDowell & Klaassen] came through,” Osborn said. “We do a lot of things directed for them. We have to have some other people step up.”