The Atlantic girls basketball team came up short in a see-saw affair with Harlan on Thursday afternoon 56-51. The game was full of big runs by both teams and the Cyclones were able to make just a couple more plays in the final minutes to edge out the win.

The Trojans started the game poorly with little offense and too many turnovers and found themselves down 12-6 at the end of the first quarter. The Trojans stepped up their defensive pressure and the offense ramped up in the second quarter. The Trojans outscored the Cyclones 24-14 in the second quarter to take the halftime lead. Haley Rasmussen led that offensive barrage with 14 of her game high 18 points in that 2nd quarter. The third quarter was all runs. The Cyclones opened the half with an 8-0 run to take back the lead and the Trojans answered with an 11 point rally. The Cyclones then ripped off 7 straight and the game was tied at 41. The Trojans scored the last 4 of the quarter and led 45-41 after three. The fourth quarter finally saw the teams start to trade buckets down the stretch. It was tied at 51 for a long while before Anna Ahrenholtz scored on a third chance opportunity to give the Cyclones the lead and eventually the win. A free throw from Jocelyn Cheek gave Harlan a three point lead with under a half minute to play and Chloe Hansen sealed the game with a steal and layup in the final seconds.

Atlantic Head Coach Dan Vargason said the Trojans just didn’t finish chances inside at the end.

Coach Vargason was proud of the way the team turned around the game in the second quarter and took better care of the ball.

The Trojans got 15 points from McKenzie Waters to go along with Rasmussen’s 18. Atlantic ends the regular season at 4-17 and will travel to Shenandoah for their 3A Regional first round game Saturday. We’ll have that game on KJAN with pregame at 6:50pm and tip-off at 7:00pm.

Harlan was led by 16 points from Jocelyn Cheek and 13 each from Macie Leinen and Anna Ahrenholtz. The Cyclones close the regular season at 5-15 and will have their first round 4A Regional Quarterfinal at Glenwood on February 13th at 7:00pm.