Midnight arrives for Cinderella Chickasaws

Pace and space.
Welcome to high school basketball in the 21st century.
The Denver Cyclones never slow down.
The offensive pace the second-highest scoring team in the state implements can be a tough assignment for any squad that attempts to reel in the “run-and-gun” bunch from the North Iowa Cedar League.
The New Hampton Chickasaws found success early on in stalling the offensive production of Denver in each team’s Class 2A, District 6 Final in Sumner last Tuesday.
But if defense wins championships, prolific scoring attacks may well be challenging that long held belief.
With an offense averaging a point total in the high 70s, the Chickasaws and head coach Ryan Rausch did their part in slowing down the Cyclone aerial attack. Denver’s constant motion leads to driving layups and kick outs for 3’s with a swiftness seldom seen on a high school basketball court.
But that energy must be maintained throughout the entire 32 minutes of play and Denver (19-5) capitalized on its ability to maintain that tremendous, rapid-fire scoring clip to wear down a game New Hampton squad. The result was a 68-53, Denver win.
“It was like special teams. It was like a punt return. We’re aiming at points that the guys had to get to,” said Rausch. “It wasn’t anybody, it was run to an area because they inbound, they take one dribble and the ball is out.”
— For more on this story, see the March 2 Tribune