Red Oak scares Glenwood in 69-50 loss

RED OAK – For a half, it had all the look of a trap game.
Glenwood, 5-1 and ranked in Class 3A, on the road at an upstart 2-4 Red Oak a day before the holiday break and two days before Christmas, trailing 36-30 at halftime.
The second half would tell a different story.
The Rams, ignited by their defense, came out after halftime on a 13-2 run and then out-scored the Tigers 21-4 in the fourth quarter to win going away 69-50 in Hawkeye 10 Conference boys basketball last Tuesday.
“My hats off to them, I thought they played a whale of a ballgame,” said Glenwood coach Curt Schulte. “They played a great first half. We didn’t do a good job identifying their shooters in the first half and their top guys got loose and made us pay for it.”
Glenwood (6-1 overall, 4-0 in the conference) led 19-16 after a quarter but four Tiger three-pointers in the second frame delivered Red Oak a 36-30 halftime lead. In the first half the Tigers hit on 6-of-11 three pointers.
In the third quarter, the Rams came out in their full-court press and it rattled the Tigers. A quick three by Nate Mohr and three buckets by Andrew Blum keyed a 13-2 run. In less than four minutes the Rams turned a six point deficit into a 44-38 lead.
“We had a much, much better second half,” said Schulte after the game. “We only gave up 14 points and limited their shooters’ opportunities in the second half. I thought giving up only 14 points was due to much better defensive effort.”
A layup with less than three minutes to go in the third ended a nearly five minute scoring drought for the Tigers.
Glenwood took a 48-44 lead in the final quarter.
With Mohr and Blum leading the way, the Rams opened the fourth on a 12-2 run. The lead swelled to as many as 21 in the quarter as the Tigers wore down under the Rams’ defense.
“We’re a much better defense than we showed in the first half,” Schulte said. “In the second half we played more ‘Ram basketball.’ We got after them defensively and didn’t give them second chance opportunities. We also ran the floor a lot better and got points in transition.”
Mohr led the way for Glenwood with 23 points. Blum added 22 on several slashing drives to the basket that seemed to confound the Tiger defense.
Weston Rolenc led Red Oak’s offense with 12 points, while Jesse Taylor and Ryan Lundgren each added 11.
“We wanted to keep going to him,” Schulte said of Blum. “We felt there was a mismatch there and he kept attacking and breaking down the defense. He had a tremendous game.”
Red Oak dropped to 1-6 with the loss and is back in action Jan. 2 in Treynor.