Sports : State Basketball: Harlan defeats Vikings with size, free throws

Giant at State: 6'-6" Harlan Junior Trey Lansman blocked six Viking shots.

'We will be back next year,' vowed junior Chase Overton, after Vikings' loss at State.

V-S basketball players accept their State Tournament participant trophy after Tuesday's game.

Grant Sagan scored 11 in his last game in the Vikings uniform.

Senior Max Kearns led the Vikes with 19 points.

First, Harlan got to state by defeating the second-ranked Class 3A basketball team.

On Tuesday, they knocked off No. 1.

Harlan ended the Vinton-Shellsburg dream of a perfect state championship season with a 67-56 win over the Vikings Tuesday at the state basketball tournament.

Led by 6-foot, six-inch junior Trey Lansman, the Harlan Cyclones blocked seven Vinton-Shellsburg shots and out-rebounded the Vikings, 35-28. Lansman, who had blocked 80 shots in the first 24 games, added six more to his total as the Cyclones advanced to play MOC-Floyd Valley. He and other Cyclone defenders challenged the Vikings on nearly every shot, forcing more misses than normal. The Vikings hit just 16 of 49 shots – under 33 percent.

Viking coach Joe Johnson said Harlan’s size inside was too much. The Cyclones held Grant Sagan to just 11 points; he had been averaging more than 19 per game. The Cyclones also dominated the game from the free throw line; they made 27 of 37 free throws while the Vikes made 16 of 20 attempts. Max Kearns led the Vikings with 19 points.

‘Back next year’

“We will be back next year,” Junior Viking Chase Overton vowed during post-game interviews, adding that he and the rest of the Vikings plan to work over the summer to reach that goal. If they do reach that goal, there’s a good chance Harlan will be there, too. All four of the Cyclones who scored in double figures vs. the Vikings are juniors.

Harlan entered the post season with six losses, and was the lowest-seeded 3A team. But their six losses came by just a combined 24 points; two of those were to second-ranked Atlantic. Harlan defeated Atlantic when the teams met in Sub-State action.

‘On the Map’

Despite the disappointing end to the season, VS Coach Johnson said his players have nothing to be sad about.

“They put Vinton-Shellsburg on the map,” Coach Johnson said of his team, which went undefeated while winning the WaMaC West title for the second straight year, and was ranked No. 1 for most of the season.

Click HERE to see more photos from Vinton photographer Jan Andreesen.