First quarters tough for Red Oak
The Red Oak Tigers boys’ and girls’ basketball teams had an off-night Teusday, as both squads lost to Atlantic.
The boys could only muster 14 rebounds in the 70-32 loss, led by Mario Lepe’s three. The Trojans have been in fine form to open the year, shooting just under 50 percent in its three wins to start the year. Tuesday featured even more accurate shooting, with Atlantic going 28-47 from the floor.
Red Oak, on the other hand, was left with some work to do. Jesse Taylor scored half the team’s points with 16 on 5-11 shooting, including 4-8 from three, and 2-2 shooting from the free-throw line.
The Tigers lagged from the start. By the end of the first half, Atlantic had built up a 35-11 lead. The Trojans continued to add onto that with a 35-point second half, compared to the 21 put up by Red Oak.
The girls’ game showed similar results, with Atlantic jumping out to a 39-13 lead after the first half in a 57-28 loss.
The Trojans have been tough to stop in the first quarter, averaging 20 points in the opening stanza and adding 16 in the second. The Tigers, meanwhile, have had issues getting their feet underneath them to get going. Red Oak has averaged eight first-quarter points, which results in the first period as the lowest average for a Tigers team averaging 41 points per game.
Friday finished at a 15-point margin for the Tigers, but the game was much closer than the score indicates.
The halftime buzzer sounded, and St. Albert went into the locker room with a 30-28 lead.
Weston Rolenc was keeping Red Oak in the game, producing 19 first-half points. He went quiet in the second half, knocking in just two more points to finish out the game.
Jesse Taylor was hitting plenty of three-pointers to keep Red Oak close, going 4-11 from beyond the arc, but his 14-point effort was not enough, as St. Albert finished with the win on 21 points in the fourth quarter.
For the girls, it fell to once again a slow start. St. Albert put up 27 points to open the game, compared to the 12 scored by Red Oak in the opening quarter.
The Tigers were able to hold St. Albert to just six second-quarter points, to chip into the lead before half, but the second half was not much better than the first quarter alone. Red Oak was able to put up nine in the third, but was shut down in the fourth, producing just three points in the last period.
Saturday, the boys were able to pull off their first win, taking an away game at Clarinda Academy, 41-21.
Rolenc once more had 21 points, going 6-23 from the floor and 8-9 from the free-throw line.
The Tigers were able to control most of the game, including the board battle, grabbing 43 rebounds against the Eagles.
As the year winds down, both Red Oak teams are looking for their second wins of the season. The girls will have opportunities Tuesday and Friday this week, both against Denison-Schleswig (boys at Denison; girls at home) and at Clarinda, before a final 2015 match against Glenwood on Dec. 22.