(Glenwood) There’s a saying, “it’s hard to beat a team three times in the same season,” and Atlantic came close to living up to the cliché.’ on Monday night in a Class 3A Substate Quarterfinal at Glenwood.
The Harlan Cyclones had twice beaten the Trojans during the regular season by the scores of 71-41 and 57-40. But the third time around was an entirely different ballgame. However, Harlan survived the challenge with a 62-59 win over Atlantic in overtime.
“I give Atlantic a lot of credit their defense was terrific,” said Harlan Head Coach Mitch Osborn. “We knew the sets they were running offensively, but we couldn’t stop it. Handlos was one a roll, and Templeton hit some big three’s, and Becker buried one from the top of the key in the second half. It was a heck of a ballgame.”
Connor Bruck led Harlan with 23-points, Michael Heithoff finished with 14, and Jonathan Monson scored 10-points. Connor Frame contributed 6, Michael Erlmeier, 5, and Will McLaughlin chipped in 4.
Atlantic arguably had its best shooting performance of the season. The Trojans buried 10-three point shots led by Skyler Handlos. The junior led the charge with 28-points, including six buckets from beyond the arc. Dayton Templeton finished with 14-points, Nile Petersen, 9, Grant Sturm 5, and Craig Alan Becker added a big three-point basket in the second half.
Atlantic snapped a 6-6 tie with a 6-0 run early in the first quarter and didn’t trail again until the second half. The Trojans led 19-12 at the end of the first frame and built the lead to 22-12 early in the second quarter before settling with 26-18 cushion at the half. Handlos led the charge with 14-first half points, including three baskets from beyond the arc. Grant Sturm and Nile Petersen each knocked down a long-range shot to help the cause.
The second half was a different story. Harlan does what they do, battled, and rallied back. The Cyclones outscored the Trojans 19-5 in the third quarter and grabbed a 37-31 lead after three-quarters.
But the Trojans didn’t go away. Handlos three-point bucket capped an 8-1 run and put his squad up 39-38 early in the fourth quarter. Harlan bounced back and extended the lead to 51-46, but again the Trojans responded on an 8-3 run at the end of regulation, capped off by Dayton Templeton’s three point shot with under 10-seconds to play and eventually send the game into overtime, at 54-54.
There were five lead changes and one tie in the extra-period, but Harlan prevailed, with some critical free-throws down the stretch to secure the 62-59 win.
“We picked up the pace in the third quarter and switched to full-court pressure and forced some turnovers,” said Osborn when asked about the third-quarter turnaround. “But they hit some tough three’s to stay in the game. I thought both teams played extremely hard. It’s a great rivalry, and we have a lot of mutual respect for one another.”
“It was an up and down game,” said Atlantic Head Coach Jeff Ebling. “It was tough seeing those long faces in the locker room after the game, especially with the five seniors. Their careers come to an end, and it’s hard. We had our chances, and we knew Harlan was going to come back and take a shot at us. We had enough inside of us to get the game to overtime. We some looks, but we couldn’t get the shots to fall. There’s no shame in how we played tonight. I thought the effort they gave us was second to none.”
The Cyclones extend their record to 16-6 and take on another Hawkeye Ten Conference foe Glenwood on Thursday night. Atlantic ends their season at 8-14.
