Defense comes up big for Rams in win

Glenwood Coach Curt Schulte has preached it throughout the early season: defense will win his team games.

On Friday, he was right.

The Rams’ press set the tone early, creating turnovers and leading to instant offense in a frenzied first half that saw them lead by as many as 22 en route to 68-45 victory over the Hawkeye 10 Conference co-leader Denison before a packed house in Glenwood.

“This was the best game we’ve played this year,” Schulte said after the game. “We just beat a really good team out there. A team that was 4-1, beat Harlan and (Council Bluffs) Lewis Central and a very good Carroll team. I’m really proud of our kids’ effort tonight.”

That effort picked up at the tail end of the first quarter and carried right through the second quarter.

The Rams led 18-11 after a quarter then opened the second frame on a 9-0 run thanks to their aggressive defense that forced six turnovers in the Monarchs’ first nine possessions.

Glenwood led 37-18 at the half.

Denison, who entered having won three straight, could get no closer than 14 points over the final two quarters.

“Our intensity was tremendous,” he said. “And I don’t think it was just for a certain amount of time. We played with intensity for 32 minutes. It was a great defensive effort.”

Schulte seemed the most pleased with his defense, after some early season breakdowns hurt the Rams in losses to Council Bluffs Lewis Central and three days ago in an 85-74 setback at Atlantic.

The Rams defensive game plan called for a concerted effort to control Monarch leading scorers, guard Charlie Wiebers and 6-foot-8 Goanar Biliew, who entered averaging a combined 34 points. The two finished with a combined 20 points in Friday’s loss.

“We held Biliew to 11 points and Wiebers to seven, well below their average; that was the key,” Schulte said. “We needed to slow those guys down and we certainly did. Ryan (Leath) and Jack Hughes did a great job all night on Wiebers. We did a great job doubling down, down low with Biliew and never really gave him good looks. By far this was our best defensive effort of the season.”

Zach Carr came up big on both sides of the ball for the Rams. The junior point guard had 24 points and eight assists, both season highs, and also grabbed three steals.

“Zach played great defense, we was under control, he pushed the ball, his shot selection was good and he got us into our offense – this was a fabulous game by Zach.”

Christian Stanislav added 23 points and Ryan Blum 14 for Glenwood.

Atlantic 85,
Glenwood 74

A red-hot shooting Atlantic squad downed Glenwood 85-74 in boys Hawkeye 10 Conference basketball last Tuesday.

The Rams (3-2 overall, 2-1 in the conference) led 41-35 at the half but home Trojans came out of halftime on a 29-8 run to take a 15 point lead into the fourth quarter. For the game, Atlantic shot a blistering 29-of-48 from the field (60.4 percent), including 10-of-15 from three-point range.

The Rams did battle back to cut the Trojans’ lead to three with 1:30 to go in the game but could get no closer.

“Atlantic shot lights out in the third quarter and really got their crowd into the game,” said Glenwood coach Curt Schulte. “I’m real proud of our effort and their will to win in the fourth quarter.  The boys showed a lot of fight.”

Chase Mullenix led Atlantic with 31 points. Tyler Moen added 24 and Logan Reilly 10.

Christian Stanislav’s 34 points and nine rebounds led the Rams. Zach Carr added 17 points and Ryan Blum chipped in 12.