by Anthony Robinson

The Atlantic Trojan basketball team hosted the Harlan Cyclones Thursday night in the Trojans’ final regular season game.   Three Trojan seniors, Derek Tjepkes, Matt Thielen, and Daniel Thomsen were recognized before the game.  The Trojans were able to keep Harlan within reach all game, but were unable to defeat the Cylones, falling 63-57.

The Trojans finished the season tied for seventh in the Hawkeye 10 with a 5-8 record and 7-14 overall.

The Trojans and Cyclones were neck-and-neck in the first quarter.  The Trojans gained momentum early after a breakaway dunk by sophomore Dalton Franken. The Cyclones led 18-15 after the first quarter.

The Cyclones were able to make lay-up after lay-up on the Trojans’ defense.  The Cyclones jumped out to a 26-18 lead with 4:40 remaining in the fist half.  After a 3-point field goal by junior point Zach Osborn, the Cyclones led by 12, 32-20, their largest lead of the entire game.

Both teams were playing aggressively in the first half.  The two teams combined for over 20 fouls in the first 16 minutes.

The Trojans managed to cut the Cyclones lead to six after a field goal on the right baseline by junior Blake Esbeck.  The Trojans trailed 33-27 as they headed to the locker rooms.

At the half the Trojans were led by Franken with 7 points.  The Trojans were 9-13 from the free-throw line compared to the Cyclones 6-11 performance. Osborn led Harlan with 10 points. Harlan’s junior big man Seth Lansman had three fouls going into the second half.

To start the third quarter, sophomore Chad Christensen had eight points in the first three minutes to tie the game at 35.  The Trojans were still unable to stop the Cyclones from driving to the hoop.  The Cyclones built another lead of five before a huge three-point play by junior Gunnar Blum, tying the game at 46 and giving the Trojans much needed momentum heading into the fourth. Harlan got another quick bucket to take a 48-46 lead into the fourth.

An early lay-up by sophomore Sam Markham tied the game at 48 early in the final quarter.  Franken picked up his fourth foul at the 5:20 mark.   The Cyclones took another seven-point lead 55-48, before Christensen hit a 3-point field goal to pull within four with 3:19 left.  Head coach Steve Blazek called a timeout to keep the momentum on the Trojans’ side.

Harlan answered with a three of their own to extend their lead back to seven with 2:24 remaining in the game. Franken got a much needed bucket for the Trojans, before fouling out with 1:39 left in the game.  After scoring seven points in the first half, Franken scored only two in the second half.

With 45.7 seconds left, Christensen hit two big free throws to cut the Cyclones’ lead to three, 58-55.  The Cyclones got another free throw before Blum got a lay-up after a strong move to the hoop to pull within two with 24 seconds left.   The Trojans were forced to foul with little time remaining.  Junior Jarod Juhl hit two free throws to put the Cyclones back up by 4.

The Trojans had a chance to pull within a single possession, but Trojan sophomore Stuart Hoegh missed a lay-up, giving the ball back to the Cyclones with 11.6 seconds remaining in the game.

The Cyclones had trouble getting the ball across half-court and nearly turned the ball over after an errant pass by Osborn.  Christensen caught the ball as he was falling out of bounds, but was unable to get the ball to another Trojan player. The Cyclones regained possession and Juhl was sent to the line again with a chance to seal the deal for Harlan.

Juhl hit two free throws for the Cyclones to end the game with a 6-point 63-57 win.

The Trojans were led by Christensen with 17 points–13 in the second half.   Markham added 10, while Franken and Blum each had nine a piece.

Harlan was led by Osborn with 19.  Juhl finished with 12 points, including the final four points from the charity stripe.

The Trojans travel to Glenwood on Monday, Feb. 21, for the first round of postseason play.  Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. in Glenwood.