(Harlan) Connor Frame’s only basket of the night was the biggest one of his life. The Harlan sophomore collected a Johnathan Monson miss and put it through the hoop with a second to spare. Frame’s heroics send Harlan to their 18th state tournament and helped the Cyclones avoid a late collapse against Denison-Schleswig in a Class 3A Substate Final in Atlantic on Monday. The Cyclones prevailed 60-58 and will take an 18-6 record to Des Moines.
The Monarchs had battled back from down six in the final minute and a half to tie the game at 58-all with just :07 left. Charlie Wiebers scored all 20 of his points in the 2nd half including a driving bucket on his team’s final possession to create the first tie since the early stages of the 4th quarter. The problem for Denison-Schleswig was that there was still time left for Harlan to respond. Following Harlan’s final timeout, Johnathan Monson took the inbound pass and raced up the length of the floor. With the shot blocking presence of Goanar Biliew looming, Monson put the shot up high off the glass and missed. Frame was left all alone underneath to hit the go head basket. It was a heartbreaking end for Denison-Schleswig after playing from behind most of the night and mounting a big rally late. The Monarchs finish the season at 15-9 and come up one win shy of state for the 2nd year in a row.
Harlan made things difficult on Denison-Schleswig’s offense in the early stages by denying the ball from Goanar Biliew and Charlie Wiebers. The Monarch tandem combined to average over 32 points per game this season. In Monday’s first half they were each held scoreless. Harlan held Denison-Schleswig off the scoreboard for the first four minutes and snagged an early 6-0 lead. The Cyclone advantage got to as large as nine in the first and they led 12-5 after one.
Goanar Billiew’s shot blocking ability helped kickstart a 10-2 Monarch run in the 2nd quarter. Damian Magnuson, Bryce Fink, and Braiden Heiden all hit first half three’s to aid the Monarch comeback. They tied it at 15 with 3:30 to go in the 2nd quarter and held a brief 17-15 lead before Harlan responded. Bruck and Monson combined for six quick points that were the start of an 8-0 Harlan swing to lead 23-17. The Cyclones settled on a 25-20 lead at the break. Bruck went 4/4 from the free-throw line in the final 1:30 of the first half including drawing a foul that was the 3rd personal on Biliew.
Denison-Schleswig chipped away in the third quarter and closed within two by the end of the frame. Wiebers started to get on track offensively and Bryce Fink drained some clutch 3-pointers. Fink scored 12 on the night. The Monarchs outscored Harlan 12-9 in the 3rd to trim Harlan’s lead to 34-32 going into a wild and dramatic 4th quarter.
Harlan went 20/29 from the free-throw line in the game with most of those attempts coming in the 4th. Connor Bruck finished the game 12/15 at the line and scored 18 points despite being face guarded most of the first half. Denison-Schleswig grabbed a lead early in the 4th at 38-35 on a Wiebers three, but it didn’t last long. Harlan scored on their next possession to get within 38-37 and eventually tied it at 39. Johnathan Monson hit one of two Harlan 3-pointers on the night to break the tie and put Harlan in front for good. Monson scored 16.
This will be head coach Mitch Osborn’s 19th appearance and 11th with Harlan. 2014 was the most recent appearance. He also took Pomeroy-Palmer to state six times and Elk Horn-Kimballton twice. Osborn owns over 700 career victories and three state championships. Their opponent will be determined following a seeding meeting among coaches on later this week. The Class 3A quarterfinals are slated for Tuesday, March 10th.
Harlan Scoring: Connor Bruck 18, Johnathan Monson 16, Michael Erelemeier 10, Michael Heithoff 8, Will McLaughlin 5, Connor Frame 3
Denison-Schleswig Scoring: Charlie Wiebers 20, Bryce Fink 12, Braiden Heiden 11, Damien Magnuson 10, Goanar Billiew 4, Evan Turin 2
