LC girls bury 12 treys as HCHS losing skid reaches six

 HARLAN (Jan. 7) -- It’s tough to hang with quality opponents when you’re outscored 30-0 from the three-point arc through three quarters.
 Throw in some untimely turnovers and it spelled a sixth straight loss for the Harlan Community girls basketball team Tuesday night as the Cyclones trailed for all 32 minutes in falling to Lewis Central, 58-34.
 The seventh-ranked (4A) Titans moved the ball well against Harlan’s 2-3 zone and man-to-man defenses, making five first-half treys to build a 28-13 lead and adding five more in the third quarter. LC led by as many as 29 points in the fourth and finished 12-of-27 from beyond the arc.
 HCHS, which didn’t make its first three until 6:30 left in the game, shot 2-of-17 from long range and 13-of-49 overall (26.5 percent).
 The Cyclones dropped to 4-6 overall and remained 2-3 in the Hawkeye Ten as the game did not count toward the conference standings.
 “We didn’t look like we had a lot of energy tonight,” said HCHS head coach Zach Klaassen. “I don’t know what the issue was but we just kind of let the game (Friday) night - [a 64-39 loss to Abraham Lincoln] - roll right into this one... We just looked real methodical."
 Klaassen continued: “We can’t do anything about the last six games but there’s something we can do about the next 11, so we’ve got to be geared up."
 Much like in volleyball, Lewis Central (6-3, 2-2 H-10) is led on the basketball floor by the senior one-two punch of six-footer Megan Witte and 5’11” Delaney Esterling, who provide a presence on both ends of the court. Witte opened the game with a trey and paced LC with 15 points and nine rebounds. Esterling added 12 points and five boards and matched Witte with two blocked shots. Junior Grace Ruzicka gave the Titans a nice boost off the bench by hitting 5-of-6 threes for 15 points.
 HCHS did have some clean looks from outside in the first half but simply couldn’t get anything to fall. As a result, the Titans’ already stout interior defense was made even stronger when they were able to collapse on the Cyclone post players.
 Ashley Hall finished with a team-high nine points for HCHS, followed by Kaia Bieker with six late points off the bench and Claire Schmitz with five. Brecken Van Baale (three points) led the way with seven rebounds and two assists.