Glenwood boys start slow, finish strong in 56-41 win
ATLANTIC - Glenwood missed 13 of its first 15 shots and got off to a rocky start in its belated season opener but got better as the game went along to pull away from Atlantic for a 56-41 road win Friday night.
The Rams were ice cold to open the game, missing their first nine shots and looking like a team with just eight practices under their belts, which is exactly what they were after a COVID-related shutdown of the program cost them more than a week of preseason practice. But Glenwood found themselves down just 13-7 after a quarter as the defense kept them in it and the offense got in synch.
Glenwood coach Curt Schulte said after the game his team rushed shots and settled for too many jump shots early.
“We did get off to slow start,” said Glenwood coach Curt Schulte after the win. “We didn’t run offense very well. It was one pass, then a shot was up and we weren’t patient. We didn’t get ball reversals and that’s what we talked about in the first quarter going into the second quarter. I think we kind of settled into things and we got movement. It was much better those last three quarters.”
The Rams out-scored the Trojans 18-11 in the second quarter and to a one point lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Rams’ lead swelled to double digits as Schulte made it a point to get leading scorer Ryan Blum open looks. The senior Wayne State recruit didn’t disappoint. Blum hit four straight buckets in a four minute stretch and scored 12 of his game high 30 in the frame.
Schulte’s switch up to a match up 2-4 zone in the third quarter was the difference in the second half. The Trojans’ first half penetration was halted and they struggled to hit outside shots, going nearly six straight minutes of the second half between the third and fourth quarters without a point.
“Yeah that was a big change for us right there,” Schulte said of the switch to the zone. “In that third quarter I thought our zone was very effective. We identified our shooters with (Dayton) Templeton and (Skyler) Handlos. We’ve only had eight practices and we’ve only ran zone two of those practices and I thought the kids really executed that pretty well.”
Templeton and Handlos combined for 35 of the Trojans’ 41 points but shot just 12-of-33 from the field.
The Rams lead got to as many as 17 in the fourth quarter. They hit 9-of-11 free throws over the final three minutes to secure the win.