Knights snap Cyclones 3-game win streak

Kuemper Catholic Senior Guard Catherine Mayhall scored 18 points for the Knights en route to a 69-61 victory, giving them their eighth win of the season and snapping the Cyclones 3-game winning streak.

“Kuemper stepped up and made a lot of big shots it seemed like,” said Cyclones Head Coach Zach Klaassen. “Every time they needed a bucket, they found one, whether it was a clutch 3-pointer or a little pull-up jumper from 14 or 15 feet and they made free throws.”

The game got underway with Sophomore Aubrey Schwieso making the first basket of the night 15 seconds into the game. Junior Erica Rust made her first bucket of the night on the next possession, forcing Knights head coach Andrew Klenk to use his first timeout of the night early in the game.

With the Knights trailing by four points, Knights Freshman Elsa Tiefenthaler was fouled, sending her to the line of scrimmage where she made 2 of 2 free throw attempts, putting her team within two points of the Cyclones.

Schwieso came down court a few minutes later dropping a shot from 3-point territory, putting the Cyclones up 14-10. Soon after, Schwieso dropped another basket, giving the Cyclones a 6-point lead.

Mayhall hit a 3-pointer of her own, ending the first quarter with the Cyclones hanging onto a 3-point lead.

Mayhall open the scoring for the Knights in the second quarter, putting them down by just one. Junior Ava Monson dropped a 3-pointer from downtown and was fouled in the process, sending her to the line, where she made the extra point, giving her team a 20-15 lead.

The Knights were hanging around keeping it close when Sophomore Karsyn Overmohle was fouled while shooting a basket, but missed the extra point, that kept the Cyclones leading by one.

Schwieso attempted a layup, but missed it. Luckily Rust was right there for the rebound putback. Junior Hannah Sonderman lost possession of the ball and the Knights took advantage of the mistake by making a basket. They scored again right after giving them their first lead of the night at 23-22.

This forced Klaassen to use a timeout. The timeout didn’t affect the Knights much with them continuing to score, going on a 7-0 run and giving them a 6-point lead, before Sophomore Molly Swensen scored a basket, ending their run and putting the Cyclones down by four points.

Halftime rolled around with the Cyclones trailing 30-26. Rust was the Cyclones leading scorer with eight points, while Monson had seven.

“I told them not to panic,” Klaassen said. “Offensively, we just got to take care of the ball and get better entry passes and once it goes in, we need to relocate on the 3-point line in case we have to dig it out.”

Junior Knight Lauren Boell started the third quarter with a bucket for her team, putting the Knights up by six. Her teammate Junior Aubrey Hueton made a 3-pointer soon after to give the Knights a 7-point lead.

Monson scored a bucket giving her 11 points on the night and forcing Klenk to use another timeout with four minutes remaining in the quarter and the Knights hanging onto a 3-point lead.

Schwieso tied the game up at 35 points apiece when she was fouled on a made basket, putting her at the line, where she made the extra point, getting the Harlan fan base on its feet.

Not long after, Overmohle made a bucket to once again put the Knight back in front. Her teammate Junior Kaci Peter made a bucket herself, giving the Knight a 4-point lead at 39-35.

Overmohle was fouled after a made 3-point shot, putting her team up 42-35. Klaassen called another timeout with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter. Peter made a 3-point shot when play resumed, giving her team a 10-point lead and putting them on a 10-0 run.

Schwieso ended their run with a basket, cutting the lead to eight points with the quarter coming to an end. With just over a minute remaining, Swensen was fouled where she made 1 of 2 free throw attempts, putting the Cyclones down by seven. Teammate Senior Savannah Christensen was fouled soon after. She made 1 of 2 free throw attempts, cutting the lead to six points.

Hueton added another 3-pointer just before the quarter ended, giving the Knights a 48-39 lead heading into the final quarter.

Schwieso was fouled 25 seconds into the fourth quarter where she missed her free throw attempt. Sonderman got her rebound, but nothing came of it with the clock continuing to count down and the Cyclones running out of opportunities to score.

Schwieso redeemed herself when she hit a bucket with six and a half minutes to go, cutting the Knight lead to seven points.

A few more minutes were chewed off the clock when Sonderman launched a 3-pointer from downtown, putting the Cyclones behind by one point and forcing Klenk to use a timeout with just over three minutes remaining in regulation.

Not long after the timeout, Mayhall made a basket to put her team back up by three points. She added another bucket right away to put her team up by five. Boell was fouled with under two minutes remaining, sending her to the line where she made both of her free throw attempts that gave the Knights a 60-53 lead.

Rust came down court to add a bucket, putting the Cyclones five points behind the Knights. Right after the shot, Klaassen called another timeout with a minute and a half remaining in the quarter.

Both teams were matching each other point-for-point, keeping it close when Senior Ella Plagman made a clutch 3-pointer, her first points of the night, putting the Cyclones within four.

Ultimately the clock expired and the Knight won giving them their eighth win of the season and handing the Cyclones their fourth loss.

“They continue to compete,” Klaassen said. “We were down by nine and had it down to one and were at the free throw line to maybe take a lead there and missed the front end, but we battled and we kept fighting the whole way through, but we just couldn’t get shots to go in when we needed them too down the stretch.”

The Cyclones next opponent will be the 6-6 Carroll Tigers on the road Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. The Tigers are coming off a close battle with the Gilbert Tigers where they won 44-43. The Tigers are led by Senior Camryn Schable with 119 points and 65 rebounds.

“Tomorrow, we’ll take a day off, regroup and get back at it Wednesday,” Klaassen added. “We head to Carroll Thursday night and then play right away Saturday morning down in Omaha. We have a lot of basketball to play here and if we’re going to hang our heads, it’s going to be a tough rest of the week, so we need to think about this one for about 24 hours and then shake it off and move forward."

 
 

 

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