Cyclones use late run to fight off fiesty Mustangs

 HARLAN -- With less than two minutes left in the third quarter Friday night, a contingent of Shenandoah fans rose raucously to their feet as the Mustangs trimmed a once 16-point deficit to 34-28 against the Harlan Community boys basketball team.
 The Cyclones responded with six straight points and eventually won the game 56-37, but this was not quite the season-opening performance that coach Mitch Osborn had in mind.
 HCHS shot 3-of-17 from the three-point arc and 37.5 percent overall - numbers that seemed even colder as they were transpiring - and beat Shenandoah by fewer than 20 points for the first time in many a matchup.
 Granted, this year’s Mustangs are a veteran-laden team, but so are the Cyclones with 10 of Friday’s 12 participants being seniors. Overall, Osborn was surprised by the shooting struggles and a few other issues on offense, but very pleased with the effort on defense. HCHS came up with 16 steals and also outrebounded the Mustangs 41-25.