Trojans win battle for seeding vs. Cyclone boys

Atlantic 70, Harlan Community 62

 HARLAN (Jan. 30) -- Fresh off one of its best halves of the season at Kuemper Catholic last Friday night, the Harlan Community boys basketball team entered the week needing perhaps one more signature win to clinch a top-two seed in Class 3A, Substate 8 and home court advantage for two postseason rounds.
 The Atlantic Trojans, in pursuit of those same goals, had other ideas, building a 22-point second-half lead and holding off a late Cyclone charge to post a 70-62 victory in Harlan Tuesday night, completing a sweep of the season series.
 Atlantic knocked down 10-of-16 three-pointers, shot 54 percent overall and outscored HCHS 41-22 during the middle two quarters.
 The game did not count in the Hawkeye Ten standings, but the outcome will certainly hold weight when the Substate 8 coaches gather for next week’s seeding meeting.
 The 9th-ranked Cyclones (12-4 overall, 6-3 H-10) still have a much better overall record than Atlantic (10-7, 7-3 H-10), but the Trojans can now claim two head-to-head wins over Harlan as well as an 18-point ‘W’ over 4th-ranked Glenwood (15-2, 8-1). The Rams, who will almost certainly be the top substate seed, play at HCHS Friday night.
 “We weren’t ready to play,” said HCHS head coach Mitch Osborn, noting that he was caught completely off guard by Tuesday’s performance after the Cyclones outscored Kuemper 49-30 in the second half of Friday’s 80-73 victory.
 Logan Klaassen had a solid game in defeat for HCHS, shooting 10-of-17 from the field and scoring a career-high 27 points. Brett Sears hit a pair of fourth-quarter threes and scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.

 
 

 

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