Red Oak boys fall to tall Atlantic team, 63-45
RED OAK – The Red Oak Tigers tangled with a pair of highly-talented teams last week, and while competitive in both games, they dropped both by double digits.
Friday night in their final home game of the season, the Tigers lost 63-45 to an Atlantic team that featured a lineup including three players at 6-6 or taller.
Garrett Frankin, who at 6-6 was clearly the most skilled of the three towers, led Atlantic to an 18-6 first quarter lead as he hit a three-pointer as time expired to give him 11 points out of the gate.
Following another Trojan basket, Atlantic led 20-6 with 7:45 left in the half, but Red Oak, in what would be a frequent occurrence, battled back with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 20-12.
Both teams traded baskets the rest of the half as Atlantic took a 29-18 lead at halftime.
After Red Oak cut the lead to 29-20 on a Ryan Lundgren layup, Atlantic scored the next eight points to extend the lead to 37-20 with 2:51 left in the quarter.
Weston Rolenc broke a six-minute scoreless streak with a three-pointer, but Red Oak trailed 45-25 early in the fourth quarter.
While Red Oak trimmed the lead, Atlantic’s Ryan Hawkins showed off his athleticism with a couple dunks; one coming after he sailed under the basket for a reverse jam, and the second on a two-handed stuff on a fast break.
After Hawkins hit a free-throw following that second dunk, Atlantic held a game-high 53-32 lead. Red Oak again rallied to make the game close with a 7-0 run, to cut the lead to 53-39.
Hawkins led Atlantic in scoring and rebounds with 25 and nine. Franken, who largely handled the ball despite his size, filled the box score with 23 points, six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals and blocks.
Rolenc led Red Oak in scoring with 11 points, including three from beyond the arc.
Tuesday night, Red Oak lost 51-41 to St. Albert/Council Bluffs.
Red Oak led 12-11 after the first quarter, but St. Albert responded with a 19-10 run to take a 30-22 lead into the locker room.
Red Oak trimmed the lead to 38-32 in the third quarter, but St. Albert sealed the win with a 13-9 run in the final eight minutes.
Lundgren scored 14 points, including four of seven three-pointers, to lead Red Oak. Rolenc added 11 points. Conner Jansky scored four but added a team-high four assists and two steals before fouling out.
Matt Fagan scored 16 and pulled down 17 rebounds to lead St. Albert.
Red Oak (5-11) finishes the 2015-16 regular season with four road games, starting Monday at Glenwood, followed by games at Shenandoah (Tuesday) and Creston (Friday). The regular season finale is Monday, Feb. 8 at Corning against Southwest Valley in a rescheduled game.