Knights dismantle Cyclones in Omaha
The HCHS girls varsity basketball team went down to Omaha Saturday morning to Creighton University to battle the Oakland-Craig Knights, but came up just short, dropping a hard fought game, 48-42.
“We just talked about situations we’ve got to get better at,” said Cyclones Head Coach Zach Klaassen, after a hard loss.
Junior Ava Monson got the Cyclones on the board with the first bucket of the game. The Cyclones got up 6-0 before the Knights made their first bucket, cutting the lead to four points.
Sophomore Aubrey Schwieso was fouled on a made shot with under a minute remaining in the quarter, sending her to the line where she made the extra point and gave the Cyclones a 9-point lead.
The Knights turned the tables on the Cyclones just before the quarter ended, going on a 6-0 run, including hitting a buzzer beater to put them within three points. The Knights continued their run into the second quarter when Adi Rennerfeldt dropped a shot from 3-point range tying the game at 17 points apiece.
The Cyclones got the lead back when Monson was fouled, made 1 of 2 free throws to put her team back in front by one. Her teammate Senior Ella Plagman was fouled not long after, where she made 1 of 2 free throws, giving the Cyclones a 2-point lead.
With three and a half minutes remaining before halftime, Klaassen called a timeout when the Knights made a game tying shot. With less than a minute to go, Chaney Nelson was sent to the foul line, where she hit both free throws. The Knight took a 4-point lead heading into the locker room. Junior Erica Rust was leading the Cyclones in scoring at the half with eight points.
“This is a good team,” Klaassen said. “They were 13-2 coming in. First thing on the scouting report sheet is we needed to match their physicality and we just didn’t today.”
The third quarter opened with the Knights continuing to hit key shots, when Sadie Nelson hit a shot from 3-point range, widening the Knights lead to nine points. Schwieso was fouled with just over five minutes remaining in the quarter, sending her to the line, where she made both free throws, cutting the Knights lead to seven points.
Schwieso made another bucket, keeping the Cyclones within striking distance entering the final quarter, down by seven. Nelson opened up the fourth quarter for Oakland-Craig hitting a shot from 3-point range and putting her team back up by double digits.
With three minutes remaining in regulation, Klaassen called a timeout for a quick word with his team. When play resumed, the ball was passed to Plagman, who made a 3-pointer to cut the Knights lead to six.
The Cyclones got the final possession of the day when the ball was passed to Junior Hannah Sonderman, who hit a 3-pointer, but in the end, the Knights hung on for a close win and handed the Cyclones their second consecutive loss.
“It’s going to come down to rebounding and turnovers and mix some free throws in with that,” Klaassen said. “If we can rebound and we can keep the ball in our hands and quit having empty possessions, we’re going to be okay. Until that happens, it’s going to be tough.”
The Cyclones look to get back in the win column returning home Tuesday night at 6 p.m. for a rematch with the Denison-Schleswig Monarchs, whom they beat Dec. 9 on the road, 53-30. The Monarchs come in with a 2-11 record and are led by Juniors Kiana Schulz with 158 points, Addison Inman with 73 rebounds and Whitlee Auen with 28 assists.
“We’re going to have a good practice on Monday,” Klaassen added. “Come in ready to go Tuesday night. Denison is always ready for us. They seem to get excited to play the Cyclones, so we’re going to have to be ready to go, otherwise it’s going to be a bad night."