Denison erases 13-point fourth quarter deficit, stuns HCHS boys 60-57

 HARLAN (Dec. 11) -- The Harlan Community boys basketball team spent most of the first three quarters Friday night struggling to put Denison-Schleswig away.
 When HCHS finally did build a nice cushion - 46-32 late in the third and 49-36 early in the fourth - the Monarchs roared back to stun the Cyclones 60-57 in a game that did not count in the Hawkeye Ten standings.
 Denison outscored HCHS 24-11 in the final period, tying the game on Braiden Heiden’s step-back 3-pointer at the 1:25 mark and taking the lead on Aiden Schuttinga’s sixth trey of the night with :35.3 remaining.
 After both teams hit a pair of free throws, including Schuttinga’s clutch 1-and-1 with :12.7 left, the Cyclones got up two decent looks in the waning moments, but Connor Frame’s left-corner three and Teagon Kasperbauer’s right-wing bomb were both off the mark.
 HCHS dropped to 2-2 overall (remaining 2-0 in conference games) while Denison improved to 2-3 overall and stayed 0-1 in the H-10.
 “Teagon (had) a great look at it,” said HCHS head coach Mitch Osborn. “I thought it was going in. It was right in front of me and just off, and that’s the game.”
 The Cyclone lead was still five (53-48) when Osborn called for the ‘Carolina’ delay game with three minutes left. A missed layup and two missed free throws (2-for-4) by HCHS kept the door open just enough, Schuttinga scored twice and Heiden’s long three knotted the score to set up a dramatic final 85 seconds.
 “When Mitch gets (to) Carolina, it’s pretty tough,” said Denison coach Derek Fink. “We got a fortunate couple bounces our way and were able to (rally).”
 Schuttinga, a junior point guard, scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter, hit 6-of-12 threes and had five assists and three steals. Heiden finished with 15 points and six rebounds while Carter Wessel had 11 points and Evan Turn added six.
 Osborn says he can only remember a handful of times - maybe less - in 37 years of coaching that his teams have lost a game after switching to the four-corners delay.
 “When you’re in Carolina, you’ve got to make layups and you’ve got to make free throws,” he said. “That’s the roll of the dice. And then you’ve got to get stops at the other end. But give Denison credit. They fought back."
 Sophomore Brad Curren led HCHS with 19 points, Connor Frame scored 15 (13 in the second half) and Will McLaughlin had 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks.