Bruck, Cyclones too much for Glenwood in 84-71 los

A career-high 41 point night from Connor Bruck for Harlan and a slow start from Glenwood doomed the Rams in Thursday’s Class 3A, Substate 8 semifinals.

Glenwood got down 40-29 at the half and played catch up the rest of the way as the Cyclones walked off the Rams’ home court with a 84-71 victory.

“This was a hard fought game with two very good teams going at it and unfortunately one of these teams had to lose,” said Glenwood coach Curt Schulte. “They shot very well and they went 39-of-43 from the free throw line and played, I felt, one of their best games they’ve played this year. My hat is tipped to them.”

The Rams trailed 40-29 at the half and by nine points heading into the final frame. In the fourth, Schulte went to a full-court pressure defense that did help key a 31 point fourth quarter for his offense. The downside was Harlan answered with a 35 point quarter of its own. The 35 points were the most allowed by the Rams in a single quarter all season.

“We put full court pressure on them, we were doubling and running different guys at Bruck to get the ball out of his hands,” Schulte.

“Then we had to foul. They just didn’t miss from the charity stripe. It would have helped had they missed a few but they didn’t.”
Harlan hit 39-of-43 free throws for the game compared to Glenwood’s 8-of-11 night at the line. The Cyclones also shot 52 percent from the field (20-of-38).

Bruck seemingly had the answer all night for the Cyclones. The all-conference guard is a player Schulte knows well – not just because he averaged 18.5 points per game in two regular season meetings with the Rams – rather the senior is his sister’s son who just happens to be his godson.

“He was in a zone,” Schulte said of his hot-shooting nephew. “He attacked the glass well. He went 3-for-4 on three’s and he got to the free throw line a lot, obviously. He had a great game. We tried to double him in the fourth quarter and he still got loose. He played a whale of a game.”

Bruck hit just 9-of-12 shots from the field but was a perfect 20-of-20 at the line. His 41 points were the most by a single player against a Schulte’s coached team in his 14 years at the helm.

“We tried to throw a  few different guys at him and he was just feeling it. He was hot and played a heck of a ball game,” he said.
For much of the game, Harlan used a triangle-and-two defense to bottle up the Rams’ top two leading scorers, Ryan Blum and Zach Carr.  Blum, who entered averaging better than 19 points, and Carr nearly 15, were held to 13 and 11, respectively.

“They locked up Blum and Carr,” he said. “We prepared for it all week. We knew they’d throw a sort of junk defense at us because they’re known to do that in the post-season and we were prepared for it and they did a good job defending both Zach and Ryan.”

Harlan was to meet Denison in Monday’s substate final with a shot at the state tournament on the line. Results of that game were not available at press time.

The Rams close their season with a  record of 17-6. Seven seniors will move on from this year’s squad and each and everyone will be missed, Schulte said.

“This was a fun team to work with,” he said. “They were very committed and dedicated the last four years. They have a lot to be proud of. We had the best overall record in the Hawkeye 10 and we were ranked in the top 10 for most of the season. We also had a 10 game winning streak in January and February.

“They have a lot to be proud of and there’s a lot of teams that would like to have a 17 win season. I’m awfully proud of them.”