by Kyle Krueger and Jena Brosam

Tuesday evening, the Atlantic boys basketball team traveled to Harlan to take on the 3-3 Cyclones.  The court had 10 guys playing hard the whole entire game, and though the teams may have not shot well, the effort levels of both teams were at a high. The first quarter ended 5-9 with a Cyclone lead.

The Trojans fought back and won the second quarter 13-12, still with a Harlan at a lead of 18-21 at the end of the first half.

Harlan came charging at the Trojans to start off the second half, and ended the third quarter ahead of the Trojans 18-12, with a lead of 36 to 30.

The Trojans fired back in the fourth, with senior Nick Podhajsky scoring crucial baskets. The Trojans outscored the Cyclones in the fourth, 17-8, making the comeback. The Cyclones had the ball with 3.7 seconds left, and freshman Scott Leonard was brought in to add some length for possibly the most important defensive possession of the game. The shot was missed by the Cyclones, which ended the game in a tie of 47-47, bringing it into overtime.

The intense overtime went back and forth, basket after basket. Kyle Juhl of the Cyclones shot free throws and brought their lead to three. He missed his next one, in which sophomore Garrett Franken rebounded and made the hail mary pass to senior Joey Walker who launched the buzzer beating, game tying three to once again bring the game to a tie, 55-55.

The Trojans kept on fighting in the double overtime game, but in the end the Cyclones just barely pulled through and defeated the Atlantic Trojans, 62-58. The Trojans snatched 14 offensive boards and 28 defensive rebounds. Three players were in double digits in points, Walker with 15, Podhajsky with 14, and junior Ryan Hawkins with 16. Juniors Kyle Nelson and Brendan Holmes also came off the bench to add a combined 5 points for our Trojans.

It was a heartbreaking loss, but there was no time to dwell on it because the Trojans traveled to Denison Friday night to take on the Monarchs.  The Trojans won 70-57.  A story will be posted later this week.