Red Oak rallies to defeat Southwest Valley

CORNING — The Red Oak boys basketball team snapped a five-game losing skid last Monday when they defeated Southwest Valley 60-43 at Southwest Valley High School.

The difference in the game was the third quarter when Red Oak outscored Southwest Valley 29-12.

“We’ve maintained that effort and energy level through the year, even during tough times,” Red Oak boys’ basketball coach Theo Fundermann said. “We went on a pretty brutal five-game stretch as far as being on the road and playing some difficult teams and losing a couple of heartbreakers.”

The Tigers went into halftime trailing 23-20. Brendon Birt got Red Oak going as he scored eight points in the first two minutes of the third quarter to put the Tigers ahead 28-23.

Southwest Valley didn’t score until about 5:30 left in the quarter thanks to a Colten Drake lay-up.

Birt’s points helped open the opportunities for both Weston Rolenc and Ryan Lundgren to score.

“I know [Brendon] was pretty disappointed in himself in the first half. I think he felt like he was settling for three’s and he wanted to come out and really make a concerted effort to drive to the basket and he did early,” Fundermann said. “Because of it, everyone got open looks and he got great looks.”

Red Oak went into the final quarter with a 49-35 lead. Southwest Valley tried to close the gap with points by Drake, but it wasn’t enough as the Tigers got the win.

Drake was a thorn in Red Oak’s side for the first half as he made his way to the basket on more than one occasion. Drake finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves.

“He’s gotten us the last two years,” Fundermann said about Drake. “He’s a big body. He battles hard.  We tried to front, we didn’t have anybody behind and they were able to throw it over the top of us and get easy looks.”

Red Oak struggled around the perimeter in the first half as Southwest Valley pulled away late to take the three-point lead into the intermission.

The Tigers worked the ball inside more often which allowed them to make three-pointers. Red Oak was 12-for-30 from three-point range in the win.

“We had settled for three-pointers all night,” Fundermann said. “We can shoot the three, but we got to make sure that when we do shoot it, it’s from inside-out.”

Rolenc was the leading scorer with 22 points and seven rebounds. Birt meanwhile scored 17 points and had five assists. Ryan Lundgren had 13 points.

St. Albert 70, Red Oak 56

The Tigers fell short in their only home game of the week last Tuesday against the Falcons.

Red Oak fell behind early, but made a run late to close the gap.

Rolenc had 17 points, while Lundgren scored 14. Birt had 11 points and Conner Jansky scored 10.

Atlantic 68, Red Oak 30

The Tigers fell short against the Trojans Friday night at Atlantic High School.

Atlantic jumped out to a 24-8 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.

Birt scored a team-high 14 points to lead Red Oak.

Red Oak will be back in action Tuesday night when they host Shenandoah as part of a varsity doubleheader. The boys game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start.

Friday night, they travel to Creston to take on the Panthers.