Ram comeback ends Knights’ upset bid

    On a night the Glenwood boys basketball team struggled shooting the ball, coach Curt Schulte agreed his team’s best offense might have been the rebound.

    The Rams (2-0), trailing most of the game, used their rebounding prowess to compensate for a cold shooting night and come back from being down as many as 10 points to defeat Fremont-Mills 48-43 in a non-conference tussle on Thursday.
    “I thought we did some great things rebounding the ball,” Schulte said after the game. “I thought our post play was good, J.J. (Hahn) had 16 points and 14 rebounds. That was good. We’re a young group, we have a lot of new faces out there this year and a lot of inexperience at the varsity level so there are going to be highs and lows. I’m just glad the high came in the fourth quarter when we outscored them 14-3.”
    The Rams held the Knights (0-1) scoreless over the first 4:35 of the game but Fremont-Mills wrestled the momentum away in a physical first half - the two teams combined for 20 first-half fouls - with a 19-1 run spanning the first and second quarters. Clayton Wilson’s layup put the Knights ahead 27-11 with just under four minutes to go in the half.
    Fremont-Mills led 31-26 at intermission.
    The Rams trimmed the margin to 38-34 to end the quarter but could get no closer until Derek Jones’ putback cut the Knights’ lead to 38-37 with 4:40 to go in the game. Following a Knight turnover on their next possession, Ram point guard Trenton McNeel found forward Corey Bertini all alone on the wing and the sophomore knocked down a three pointer, his only bucket of the game, to give Glenwood its first lead since midway through first quarter.
    Nursing a 40-38 lead, Schulte, sensing his team had the momentum, switched out of the 1-2-2 zone defense he’d employed much of the second and third quarter due to foul trouble, went back to his man-to-man.
    “We had to go ‘black,’ which is out 1-2-2. I thought it saved us and kept us out of foul trouble and then we went back to our bread and butter, the man-to-man and I thought it was the turning point,” Schulte said.
    The Rams held the Knights without a point over the next 4:29 while building a 46-38 lead.
    Schulte said Bertini’s jumpshot keyed the Rams when they needed it most.
    “It was a clutch shot. He’s young and still working on getting his feet wet. He will continue to get better and he’s got a bright future here in Glenwood,” Schulte said.
    Fremont-Mills coach Matt Thompson said his team didn’t do the best playing with the lead against the 3A Rams.
    “I don’t know if we tightened up. I don’t know. We missed a bunch of layups, we took some shots that maybe we shouldn’t have, we got impatient,” Thompson said.
    The Rams held a decided rebound advantage, with Hahn leading the way with his 14 rebounds. In two varsity starts this season the 6-foot-4, 280 pound junior is averaging 18 points and 13 rebounds.
    “We knew coming in J.J. Hahn is a great rebounded with a big body and he’s athletic,” Thompson said. “We talked coming in about keeping them off the glass and we did not keep them off the glass. We did not execute that aspect of the game.”
    Corey Morrical led the Knights with 23 points. Nate Meier added nine.

Atlantic 68,
Glenwood 47
    The Glenwood boys basketball team suffered its first defeat of the season with a 68-47 loss at Atlantic on Friday in Hawkeye 10 Conference play.
    The Rams (2-1) were out-scored 14-4 in the opening frame and trailed 28-12 at the half.
    Tyler Jensen came off the bench to score 11 points to lead to Rams. Trenton McNeel added eight and Derek Jones seven.
    Dalton Franken led Atlantic with 16 points. Sam Markhum added 14.

Glenwood 50,
C.B. Thomas Jefferson 34
    J.J. Hahn recorded a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds in his first varsity start to lead Glenwood to a 50-34 season-opening victory over Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson last Tuesday.
    The Rams (1-0) used an 11-2 second quarter spurt to pull away from the Yellowjackets in the second quarter.
    Derek Jones added 12 for Glenwood. Trenton McNeel chipped in with seven and Scott King six.
    Glenwood held Thomas Jefferson to 27.4 percent shooting (14-of-51).
    T.J. was led by Wyatt Fallet with 16 points.