Rams upset in district semifinals

The play was perfect.

Less than six seconds to go, trailing by three, Ryan Blum attacked the basket, the Atlantic defense walled up and Blum flipped a pass to Caden Johnson for a wide-open corner three-pointer.

And the shot didn’t go down.

Glenwood’s, and Johnson’s, potential game-tying shot rimmed out and Atlantic pulled out a 63-59 upset win over the No. 6 ranked Rams in the Class 4A, Substate 8 semifinals tonight.

“We wanted to attack with Ryan going downhill and if they collapsed on him we had Caden there and he’s a fabulous shooter and we got a great look and it just went in and out,” said Glenwood coach Curt Schulte after the game. “It was the shot we wanted.”

The loss was a particularly tough one for Schulte and his team. They were coming off their first Hawkeye 10 Conference title and 20-win since 2018 and had already beaten the Trojans twice this season in close victories.

“I’ve been blessed to be able to coach these kids,” said a dejected Schulte. “They’re competitors each and every night. Not a lot of people predicted we’d win the Hawkeye 10 this year. A lot of people thought there was no way we’d win 20 wins this season. These kids have a lot to be proud of. The ball didn’t roll our way tonight. But we had an opportunity and that’s all you can ask for.”

The Rams had several opportunities in the game. After getting down early they led by as many as eight in the second quarter before taking a 35-32 lead into halftime. But an 8-3 Trojan run to open the second half flipped the momentum.

In the fourth, the Rams found themselves down five before battling back to take a 49-48 lead with 6:40 to go.

But Glenwood would go the next 5:09 without a point and the Trojans would respond with an 8-0 run to go up 56-49. Blum would stop the bleeding with a three-point play with 1:31 to go but the Rams still trailed 56-52.

After a quick timeout, Glenwood put on a full-court press and forced a quick missed shot by Atlantic. But the Rams could not take advantage. The missed the front end of a one-and-one and their next two shots while the Trojans got two free throws from Grant Sturm and a layup from Skyler Handlos to go up 60-54.

A layup and another three-point play by Blum made it 62-59 with 27.1 to go.

Atlantic then missed a pair of free throws that set up the Rams’ final, potential game-tying shot.

“We had a big drought there,” Schulte said. “And we missed some free throws too. I think we were 5-of-15 from the line and some of those were the front end of one-and-ones. I do feel like we got some good looks, we just couldn’t buy a basket.”

Johnson’s shot rolled in and out. The Trojans’ Sturm snagged the rebound and hit 1-of-2 free throws to seal it.

“We ran a little iso and if they came and doubled me, I’d kick it to the corner and that’s what happened and we got a great look,” Blum said of the final play. “We’d take that shot every day of the week.”

Blum was big for the Rams all night long. He scored a game-high 37 points, time and again hitting big shot after big shot. But it wasn’t enough.

“Ryan is one of the best competitors I’ve ever coached,” Schulte said. “I’ve been blessed to coach him for four years. And I hate this is his last game. But he goes out with a lot of records. He broke the all-time scoring record tonight and he has the single season scoring record. I could go on and on about that but I’m certainly going to miss him. He’s certainly one of the best in the state of Iowa in all classes.”

Blum did indeed surpass former Ram guard Nate Mohr on the all-time scoring list. The senior forward closes his career with 1,465 points, 20 more than Mohr from 2014-2018.

Blum wasn’t in the mood to celebrate his record after the game. He’d have gladly traded it for a victory.

“Nate Mohr was a hell of a player and he basically taught me everything I know but right now, it doesn’t mean anything,” he said.

Glenwood closes its season with a record of 20-3. 

Along with Blum four other Rams played their last game in a Glenwood uniform: Ben Hughes, Silas Bales, Zach Zielstra and Peyton Maxwell.

“I’m certainly going to miss these seniors, Schulte said. “They’re not only good ballplayers, they’re class acts.”