Rams outlast Cyclones in thrilling substate final
COUNCIL BLUFFS (Feb. 26) -- From an effort and execution standpoint, the Harlan Community boys basketball team graded out close to an ‘A’ in Monday’s Class 3A, Substate 8 final vs. Glenwood.
But on this night - against this opponent - an A+ was required to win.
In an entertaining, up-tempo battle between senior-laden rivals, the Rams simply had an answer for everything the Cyclones threw at them inside the Abraham Lincoln Fieldhouse. When Harlan jabbed, Glenwood always had a counterpunch.
The dreaded left hook finally landed in the last four minutes when Nate Mohr’s fourth 3-pointer ignited a 15-5 finishing run to send the fifth-ranked Rams back to state with an 82-69 win over HCHS.
Glenwood secured a sequence of key defensive stops down the stretch while Mohr added a pair of driving buckets and combined with Christian Stanislav to make six straight free throws in the final minute.
The Rams (22-2) will be seeded fourth in their first state tournament appearance since 2015 and will face Norwalk (22-2) in a Class 3A quarterfinal on Tuesday (March 6) at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Cyclones, who also lost to Glenwood twice in the regular season, finished 15-8 overall and fell short of a state berth for the fourth consecutive year.
“Man, I’m so proud of our guys. I thought we played terrific,” said HCHS coach Mitch Osborn, reiterating that this year’s Glenwood squad is arguably its best in school history.
“This is their (all-time) team, and we just about pulled this thing off tonight."
HCHS Scoring Leaders: Logan Klaassen 22, Jacob Hansen 15, Brett Sears 12.
Glenwood Scoring Leaders: Nate Mohr 27, Christian Stanislav 25, Ryan Blum 12, Nate Kennedy 12.