Glenwood tops HCHS boys 61-49

 GLENWOOD (Jan. 12) -- An untimely scoring drought spoiled Harlan Community’s chance for a nice road win and a season sweep here Tuesday night as 8th-ranked (3A) Glenwood defeated the Cyclone boys basketball team 61-49.
 HCHS trailed 45-37 going to the fourth quarter but scored just six points during the next seven minutes prior to Jace Gubbels hitting a pair of late three-pointers to cut the final gap to 12.
 The Cyclones’ third loss in four games dropped their record to 5-5 overall, but they remain 5-1 in the Hawkeye Ten as the game did not count toward the conference standings. Glenwood is now 9-1 overall and 6-1 in league play - its only defeat coming December 19 in Harlan.
 Following some recent games in which his team shot less than 25 percent from the field, HCHS coach Mitch Osborn took some positives from Tuesday’s performance as the Cyclones shot 44 percent overall and made 6-of-20 attempts from beyond the arc.
 “Our guys played very tough and we were right in the game going into the fourth quarter,” Osborn said. “I thought we took a good step forward offensively through three quarters and really did a much better job pushing the ball in transition and attacking their press, which led to some nice buckets. We did a much better job finishing shots in the paint and we just have to start becoming more consistent and not have those scoring droughts.”
 Osborn noted that the Cyclones held Glenwood standout Ryan Blum to just two points in the first half using a diamond-and-one defense, but they also allowed Ben Hughes to knock down three first-quarter threes. Blum heated up in the second half, hitting five treys and finishing the night with 22 points. Silas Bales added 10 points for the Rams, followed by Hughes with nine, Jayme Fritts seven and Brock Sell six.
 Although no one reached double figures, HCHS had a balanced scoring attack led by Will McLaughlin’s nine points. Brad Curren, Aidan Hall and Connor Frame all scored eight points, Gubbels and Teagon Kasperbauer both hit a pair of threes for six points and Isaiah Ahrenholtz added four.