Cyclone girls' game-long rally falls just short against No. 3 Red Oak

 HARLAN (Dec. 20) -- After falling behind 19-9 late in the first quarter, Harlan Community spent the rest of Friday night fighting and clawing from behind but never quite got over the hump against the third-ranked (3A) Red Oak girls basketball team.
 HCHS pulled within 22-20 in the second quarter, 36-34 in the third and 50-49 in the fourth, but the Tigers answered every challenge to stay unbeaten, 53-50.
 After Red Oak seniors Ellie Rengstorf and Chloe Johnson combined to make 3-of-4 free throws inside the :25 mark, Harlan’s Raegan Wicks hit 1-of-2 at the line with :04.5 left to make it 53-50. When Wicks’ miss resulted in a jump ball, the possession arrow favored the Tigers with :02 to go. They inbounded the ball and time expired despite another jump ball being signaled before the horn sounded.
 The Cyclones (4-3, 2-2 Hawkeye Ten) put forth a valiant effort but lost their third straight game on the heels of a 4-0 start. Red Oak, meanwhile, took an 8-0 overall record (4-0 H-10) into the holiday break.
 “That’s as physical as we’ve played all year. I was proud of that,” said HCHS coach Zach Klaassen. “We’ve let other teams push us around a little bit and that’s the most physical team we’re probably going to see this year. Those Johnson girls [Chloe and Lexi) are tough, very physical. That’s how they make their living down there... I was very proud of the girls’ efforts. We’ve just got to finish and learn how to win these games.”
 Although frustrated by the scrappy Cyclones at times, Red Oak's Sophie Walker (17.6 ppg.) hit three treys and picked her spots to score off the dribble in leading all players with 19 points.
 For HCHS, Ashley Hall scored 11 of her team-high 13 points in the second half while adding five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Claire Schmitz finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Macie Leinen had 10 points and three blocked shots. Brecken Van Baale, whose second three-pointer made it 49-47 with :55.9 remaining, had six points and four rebounds.