Cyclones soundly defeat Monarchs on Senior Night
Junior Erica Rust and Sophomore Aubrey Schwieso both scored 22 points en route to victory over the Denison-Schleswig Monarchs on senior night. For the Cyclones, they snap their 2-game losing streak and earn their 10th win.
“It definitely feels good,” Schwieso said. “I think we needed some confidence and I think we came out and played a really good game tonight.”
Before the game, Seniors Ava Miller, Lauren McLaughlin, Savannah Christensen and Ella Plagman were honored by the school for their final year of high school basketball.
“They’re a very unique group, a very patient group,” said Cyclones Head Coach Zach Klaassen. “Their willingness to do the little things to be part of a team, knowing their time would come if they continued to work and now their time is here and they’re making the most of it.”
Rust opened the scoring by dropping the first basket of the night. The Cyclones went on a 7-0 run before Senior Monarch Olivia Meyer got her team on the board with a 3-point shot.
The Cyclones opened the scoring up a little, taking a 19-8 lead into the second quarter, with Rust leading the way in scoring with 10 points.
Plagman made an assist to Junior Hannah Sonderman for a bucket to open the second quarter, putting the Cyclones up by 13. Junior Monarch Kiana Schulz cut the lead to 10 by dropping a shot from downtown.
The Cyclones then went into attack mode by getting contributions up and down the roster. Rust made another bucket, Schwieso and Sonderman both made 3-point shots. Monarchs head coach Adam Mich called a timeout with his team trailing by 20.
Schulz hit a shot just before the buzzer went off, but the Cyclones were still holding a 20-point lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
“We just talked about how our half court defense needed to stay solid and just not to get really flat,” Klaassen said. “Although, it did seem like we got really flat. The ball quit moving. Mentally it’s hard to stay on it all the time, but we can’t have those times where we just let up and let it go and even if we’re not pressing, we’ve got to be playing hard in the half court and continue to push the ball forward and get easy buckets.”
Sonderman opened the third quarter with a bucket for the Cyclones. Soon after, Rust was fouled, sending her to the line, where she made 1 of 2 free throws. The Monarchs were chipping away little by little at the Cyclones lead, forcing Klaassen to use his first timeout with two and a half minutes remaining in the quarter.
When play resumed, Junior Ava Monson was fouled. She made 1 of 2 free throws to put the Cyclones up 19.
Mich called a timeout less than a minute into the final quarter with the Cyclones leading by 21. After the timeout, the Cyclones went on a 10-5 run, which ultimately sealed the deal giving them a 63-38 win.
The Cyclones will have Wednesday off, but return to the court Thursday on the road against the 6-8 Carroll Tigers, before returning home Friday night to battle the 4-12 Creston Panthers. The Tigers are led by Senior Camryn Schable with 121 points and 69 rebounds. Klaassen talked about what’s key to victory over the Cyclones next few opponents.
“Playing at our tempo and controlling the boards,” he said. “We’ve got to continue down that road, owning the boards and controlling the turnovers and we’ll be okay."