Rams Topple Atlantic, Shoot Down Falcons

Glenwood overcame the loss of its point guard and a furious second-half rally by Atlantic to avenge an early-season loss to the Trojans in a 73-65 Hawkeye 10 Conference victory last Tuesday, Jan. 8.

“I wish we could have sealed the deal when we had a 20-point lead but we let them back in,” said Glenwood coach Curt Schulte after the win.

The Rams led by 11 after halftime and stretched that margin out to 47-27 on Dax Lappala’s three pointer with just over three minutes to go in the third quarter.

But the Trojans would score the next four points and induce a fourth foul on Ram point guard Zach Carr to keep the door open.

With Carr on the bench, the Trojans cut the lead to 51-42 on Tyler Moen’s putback with seven minutes to go.

The Rams responded to push their lead back to 13. But the Trojans clawed back once again, getting it down to 60-51 with 4:22 to go when Carr was whistled for his fifth foul.

“He’s a floor general for us and we like it when he’s on the floor,” Schulte said of Carr. “When he’s not, it makes things a little harder. It would have been nice to have him on the floor. He’s a great ball handler, he’s a great leader, and he handles things well in those types of situations.”

Atlantic immediately went to work using their full court pressure to speed up the Rams.

Back-to-back jumpers by Moen, who scored a team-high 24, trimmed it to 66-62 with 1:21 to go.
But that’s as close at the Trojans would get. Glenwood, which started the final frame hitting 6-of-12 at the free throw line, finished out the final 1:02 hitting 8-of-10.

The Rams lost 85-74 to this same Atlantic team back on Dec. 11. Schulte said the second time around, his team made it’s biggest strides guarding the Trojan shooters.

“Our defense was better,” Schulte. “We ran a triangle and two on them. We tried to lock up (leading scorer Chase) Mullenix and (Skyler) Handlos and we did a good job of that especially for the first three quarters. Then they got loose on us a little bit and hit some crucial shots at crucial times.”

Mullenix finished with 18 and Handlos seven, both scoring below their season averages.

Since that December loss the Rams have won five straight by an average of more than 20 points. Schulte thinks a close game in which his team had to do the little things late to win will only help them in the long run.

“The last four games have been 15 and 20 point wins and we haven’t been in a close game like this for awhile so I think we’re really going to go ahead and learn from that fourth quarter,” Schulte said.

Ryan Blum paced the Rams with 25 points. Christian Stanislav added 17 and Carr finished with eight points.

Glenwood 68,
St. Albert 54
Glenwood opened up a double-digit lead in the first half and stayed in control for the remainder of the game during a 68-54 triumph over St. Albert Friday night in the Jennie Ed Sports Med MAC Shootout.

The Rams turned in a dominating performance on the glass, outrebounding the Falcons, 45-32.

“We were really physical and aggressive on the boards,” Schulte said. “We outrebounded them, 45-32, and 16 of those were offensive. We had a lot of second-chance and third-chance points.”

Stanislav turned in a game-high 22 points for the Rams, who improved to 9-2 with their sixth straight victory. Jack Hughes chipped in nine points, while Blum and Cade Van Ness both tallied eight points. Blum and Stanislav were the Rams’ rebounding leaders with 11 and eight respectively. Ryan Leath pulled down seven rebounds to go along with four assists. Dax Lappala also dished out four assists.

Schulte said he was pleased with the Rams’ ball movement throughout the night and their adjustment to shooting the ball in an arena setting that has a different line of sight than a high school gymnasium.

“It’s a good venue to play in,” Schulte said. “We just love the opportunity to play in an arena like that.”

Lance Wright scored 13 team-high points for St. Albert and was the lone Falcon to score in double figures. St. Albert fell to 3-9 with the loss.

Glenwood’s scheduled game at Harlan Saturday was postponed by inclement weather and will now be played Saturday, Jan. 19.

The Rams played at Red Oak Tuesday night.

“We’ve got a tough stretch of the schedule coming up, but we’re meshing as a group,” Schulte said. “We’re playing well together.”