Rams’ red-hot third quarter dooms Tigers

Glenwood came in from the cold Friday night at Red Oak, trading icy shooting in the first half for a red-hot third quarter that saw them hit 9-of-11 from behind the arc to help fuel a 72–56 win in Hawkeye 10 Conference boys basketball.

The Tigers (5-10 overall, 3-6 in the conference) used a compact 3-2 zone to cut off the passing lane and dare Glenwood to settle for jump shots much of the first half. As a result, the Rams (9-4 overall, 7-2 in the conference) missed nine of its first 13 shots and trailed by as many as nine in the second quarter.

“When we start off hot it can be a snowball effect,” said Red Oak coach Jesse Taylor after the game. “I loved how we swung the ball and shared the ball and everyone was scoring. Defensively, they were rattled against our zone, and we can take away (leading scorer Evan) Stanislav or their shooters on the outside and prioritize guys like that in the zone it really helps us. We played really well on both sides other than that third quarter.”

The “third quarter” would prove the Tigers’ downfall.

Glenwood came out of halftime on fife, hitting five three-pointers in row and six in its first seven possessions to flip a 29-25 halftime hole into a 46-38 lead with 4:21 to go in the third quarter. 

“I thought we played a much better second half than we did the first half,” said Glenwood coach Curt Schulte after the game. “Give Red Oak credit, they came out with a lot of energy at home, and we did not shoot the ball well that first half. We made some adjustments at halftime, and I thought we played a good solid 16 minutes the second half.”

Taylor admits his team didn’t adjust well in the third frame and it cost them.

“They had 27 points in that third quarter, and they were all from three,” Taylor said. “If we just take two or three of those away and we’re right back in and have a chance to win.”

In that third quarter, Colin Steele came up huge for Glenwood in its hot streak. The senior hit 5-of-5 threes in the hot streak as the Rams hit 9-of-11 from behind the arc to take a 58-45 lead into the fourth quarter. Steele finished with 20 points and Stanislav scored a game-high 26.

The Tigers hung around, thanks to 12 second half points from Reese Montgomery on his 19 point and 11 rebounds night but never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

Glenwood finished a season-nest 15-of-29 from three-point land and shot 45.8 percent as a team in the win. They also notched 21 assists on their 27 made field goals.

“This felt like some of the best basketball we played this year, and we felt pretty good and we’re hitting shots and guys are involved and we couldn’t seem to find the hot hand,” Taylor said. “We do that and we can win these types of games.”