Shooting woes strike again as Cyclones fall to Falcons

 HARLAN (Jan. 8) -- The offensive struggles continued for the Harlan Community boys basketball team Friday in a 44-39 home loss to St. Albert.
 One night after scoring 77 points in a win over Red Oak, the Cyclones shot below 25 percent and scored less than 42 points for the second time in three games since the holiday break.
 The final numbers saw HCHS make just 4-of-22 two-point shots and 7-of-29 three-pointers for 21.6 percent overall. The bad shooting, which included a high number of misses inside five feet, was compounded by 14 turnovers.
 The Cyclones (5-4 overall) have now lost three games to Hawkeye Ten opponents this season, but this was the first one to actually count in the conference standings as they fell to 5-1 in league play going into Tuesday night’s game at Glenwood (8-1, 6-1).
 “In the fourth quarter we were 0-for-5 from three feet,” said HCHS head coach Mitch Osborn as he glanced at the shot chart. “Granted, I think a couple times we got fouled, but... we’ve got to finish. There’s not much else to say.
 “I feel bad for the guys. We’ve just got to keep plugging away. The schedule is extremely tough.”
 Trailing 32-28 at the start of the fourth period, HCHS pulled within one or two points five separate times but could not hit the necessary shots to get over the hump.
 Jeff Miller’s two free throws put the Falcons up 42-39 with :20.4 on the clock, then the Cyclones missed an open three-pointer and threw an errant pass that led to Connor Cerny’s layup at the buzzer for St. Albert.
 The offensive woes, which included just three Cyclone points in the second quarter, wasted an outstanding effort on defense. HCHS held the Falcons’ leading scorer, Sam Rallis (19.8 ppg) to just 12 and blanked Carter White, who was averaging 17.8.
 Cyclone junior Connor Frame scored 11 of his game-high 18 points in the third quarter and shot 7-of-16 from the field. The rest of the team combined to make just 4-of-35 attempts. Brad Curren finished with six points while Aidan Hall and Will McLaughlin both added five. McLaughlin also had 10 rebounds and three blocked shots while battling foul trouble.
 St. Albert (4-4 overall, 3-2 H-10) was led Miller’s 14 points and six rebounds while Rallis had 12 and six to go along with seven steals.

 
 

 

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