(Des Moines) Norwalk outscored Harlan 21-6 in the 2nd quarter and eliminated the Cyclones 72-37 Tuesday at the Boys State Basketball Tournament in Des Moines. The #1 ranked Warriors got 26 points from UNI commit Bowen Born and advance to a semifinal on Thursday afternoon.
Harlan ends the year at 18-7 on the season. They Cyclones led 13-12 after one quarter, but couldn’t hold down the deep and talented defending state-runner-up as the game wore on. Norwalk had ten different player score and shot 53.7% for the game compared to Harlan’s 28.6%.
After being limited to 1/6 field goal shooting in the first quarter, Born got on track in the 2nd as Norwalk jumped in front. The Warriors scored the first five points of the 2nd quarter and never trailed the rest of the game. Born scored 10 of his 26 in the 2nd as Norwalk built a 33-19 halftime lead.
The 3rd quarter brought more of the same. Norwalk’s defense forced some turnovers in the first few minutes after halftime and they quickly cashed in on the offensive end. Norwalk’s 20-10 3rd quarter edge put the game out of reach. Five different players hit a three in the 2nd half as they put the running clock rule into effect early in the 4th.
Harlan got 11 points from Connor Bruck and 10 out of Johnathan Monson. Both are seniors along with Michael Heithoff and Cody Christensen.
Harlan scoring: Connor Bruck 11, Johnathan Monson 10, Michael Erlemeier 7, Bradley Curren 3, Aidan Hall 3, Connor Frame 3
Norwalk Scoring: Bowen Born 26, Scott Anderson 11, Tyler Johnson 7, Ethan Carlson 6, Grant Larson 5, Joe Brown 5, Liam Buckley 4, Cole Tunender 3, Jake Fees 3, Evan Borst 2
