Top ranked Rams pull away late in rugged road victory

ATLANTIC - Foul trouble, turnovers, shaky shooting.

The Class 4A, No. 1 ranked Glenwood girls basketball had its fair share of each in Friday’s season opener at Atlantic.

On a night the Rams didn’t look their best — and playing their first game without injured leader and four-year starter Elle Scarborough — it was defense and depth proved the difference in a sometimes ugly, always rugged 68-52 victory.

Glenwood coach Brian Rasmussen was quick to compliment the play of the Trojans after the game.

“They played well,” he said. “They came to compete, they came to fight, they came to win and I think they played one heck of a ball game. They had a great game plan and they were ready to play and did a great job.”

Rasmussen didn’t seem too concerned about his team’s play. They’ve had just seven practices and have had to adjust to playing without Scarborough, a three time all conference player, on the fly.

Early foul trouble plagued the Rams with three starters picking up two quick fouls each. Returning leading scorer Madison Camden picked up her third foul with 7:06 to go in the first half. The early foul trouble had the Rams out of synch until late in the first half.

“We still have to work out a lot of kinks in practice,” Rasmussen said. “I think we’ve only had 7 practices under our belt at this point which is certainly not an excuse but we’ve got a lot of things to work on. And that’s ok. That gives us somewhere to start and somewhere to improve upon and get better from.”

After taking a 34-26 lead into halftime, Glenwood out-scored the Trojans 16-8 in the third quarter and led by as 16 in the frame. The Rams lead ballooned to 57-38 on a Coryl Matheny layup with 6:01 to go in the game.

Atlantic managed to cut the lead back to 57-46 on an 8-0 run but it was as close as they would get.

Rasmussen thought his team’s depth really showed in the win. When foul trouble hampered his starters, his bench stepped up.

“We don’t lose a lot when we have to sub,” he said. “Our ability to run the floor. They did a great job getting back but I thought we did a nice job of continuing to run the floor and getting some of the baskets in transition.”

Scarborough, who is sitting out with a knee injury, was missed, Rasmussen said. She led the Rams in assists and steals and was third in scoring a year ago. Glenwood struggled with ball security most of the night.

I think that has a lot to do with it,” Rasmussen said of not having Scarborough’s calming presence on the floor. “But that’s good. You certainly don’t want an all-conference player out but there is an opportunity, a silver lining in that other girls have to step up and not rely on what they’ve been able to rely on for so long. We’ll get better. We’ll get better.”

Camden led the Rams with 17 points and Jenna Hopp added 16 points.

Atlantic was paced by Haley Rasmussen’s 15 points.