Rams stay perfect with 64-56 win
In a clash of unbeaten Hawkeye 10 Conference teams Saturday, only Glenwood walked away with an unblemished record.
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he Rams (4-0 overall, 3-0 in the conference) trailed 31-28 at halftime before rallying over the final two quarters for a 64-56 win over Council Bluffs St. Albert.
After the Falcons (3-1) out-scored the Rams 18-11 in the second quarter to take its slim lead into the break, Glenwood came out after halftime on a 16-9 run to take the lead for good heading in the fourth quarter.
“I thought it was a well played game by two very good teams,” said Glenwood coach Curt Schulte. “We executed well in our delay game in the fourth quarter.
The boys took care of the ball, made good decisions, and made free throws down the stretch to get the win.”
Andrew Blum paced Glenwood with 18 points. Nate Mohr and Christian Stanislav added 17 points each.
“Our scoring tonight was very balanced,” Schulte said. “It makes it difficult for teams to stop you when you’ve got several players scoring in double figures.”
Jake Carley’s 23 points led St. Albert.
Glenwood 70,
C.B. Lewis Central 50
The calendar may have said early December, but Glenwood and Council Bluffs Lewis Central went at like it was late-January and both were clamoring for post-season position.
Glenwood out-muscled and outplayed the Titans in a rugged, early season 70-50 tussle that saw the Rams pull away with a hot shooting fourth quarter to improve to 3-0 on the season.
“This was an intense, physical game and aggressive game,” said Glenwood coach Curt Schulte after the game.
The Rams led 29-20 at the half but could never quite pull away and the Titans could never quite pierce Glenwood’s lead closer than six points.
In the third quarter, the Titans used a quick 5-0 run midway through the frame to cut the lead to 36-32. The Rams would retake a 46-37 lead heading into the fourth and then began to pull away from there.
Glenwood opened the final frame with a three pointer by Nate Kennedy and a steal and layup by Nate Mohr to take its biggest lead of the game at that point, up 51-41. But the Rams’ wouldn’t stop there. Another three each by Kennedy and Mohr would key a 14-4 run to put Glenwood out in front 60-41 and take the air of out of the Titans with less than five minutes to go.
The Rams hit 5-of-10 three pointers in the final quarter and defensively held the Titans to two field goals over the first five minutes.
“We’ll take shooting like that (in the fourth quarter) any day,” Schulte said.
Schulte said his team put it all together in the fourth quarter.
“We felt like we executed really well down the stretch,” Schulte said. “We didn’t allow them to get any open looks and just really executed what we wanted to do offensively and defensively really well.”
The win was the third straight in which the Rams’ surpassed 70 points. But Lewis Central was the first “litmus test” game for his team, Schulte said, after winning in its previous two games by an average of 43 points coming in.
“We knew this would be a real competitive game, it always is. L.C. has a great program and they’re well coached,” Schulte said. “We knew this could be a good measuring stick of where we’re at. They’re big, they’re physical, they’re aggressive and we knew that. It was good for us to see that and we didn’t back down.”
Andrew Blum led four Rams in double figures with 17 points. Christian Stanislav added 15 points, Kennedy 14 and Mohr 10.
“Balanced scoring comes from us playing unselfish,” Schulte said. “They’re giving up the ball, making the extra pass. That’s what good teams do and what we need to continue to do.”