RO girls hoops win three; boys fall twice on the hardwood

The Red Oak Tiger hoops teams split wins with Clarinda last Tuesday, Jan. 8.
The Tiger girls defeated Clarinda 70-43 with five players scoring double digits.
The Tigers jumped to a three-point lead to end the first quarter, and extend that to a 37-21 halftime score before putting the game out of reach in the third frame 54-27.
Sophie Walker led the Tigers in scoring with 14, followed by Chloe Johnson with 12, Ellie Rengstorf 11, Lexi Johnson and Allie West 10 points each, Jadyn VonDielingen and Kyndal Kells four each, Kam Buntrock three, and Libby Mensen two.
C. Johnson ran the boards grabbing eight rebounds, and Walker and West had six each.
Rengstorf passed five assists, Walker four; West and Rengstorf had two steals apiece; and West blocked three shots.
Boys
Tiger boys fell to the Cards 67-44.
Red Oak led 13-9 to end the first frame, but the Cards added 25 points in the second frame, while the Tigers added 14.
The Cardinals had a strong second half, outscoring the Tigers 33-17 to put the game away.
Kobe Johnson led Red Oak with 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Carter Bruce had 11 points, two steals; Garrett Couse seven points; Isaac Birt six points, four rebounds, three assists; David Vega five points, three rebounds; and Garrett Rolenc two rebounds.
Fremont-Mills
The girls routed Fremont-Mills 71-25 Thursday, Jan. 10, in non-conference play.
Red Oak held a 43-16 lead heading into the half.
Four Tigers had double-digit scores, with Walker posting a double-double.
L. Johnson and C. Johnson had 17 points each. L. Johnson had four rebounds, two assists, and four steals, while C. Johnson had four rebounds, one assist, one steal.
Walker scored 13 points and had 12 assists; West 10 points, four assists, two steals, one block; Buntrock six points, nine rebounds; Rengstorf five points, three rebounds, four assists, one steal; and Mensen three points, three rebounds, three steals.
Kuemper Catholic
Tiger girls capped off the week with a 9-4 record after besting Kuemper Catholic 52-29 Friday, Jan. 11.
Walker led the charge for the Tigers with 13 points, eight rebounds. Rengstorf added 11 points, five steals.
No furhter stats were available.
Boys
“JV boys started us out with a really gritty win,” Red Oak boys head coach Dan Pollock said. “The varsity had its second highest scoring output of the season, but couldn’t get enough stops to beat a very athletic Kuemper squad. I am really proud of our attitude and effort from tonight.”
The varsity boys were down 21-8 at the end of the first frame, but closed the gap a bit in the second quarter, heading into the halftime down 37-22.
“A commitment to getting shots in the paint and great ball movement resulted in 15 assists on 21 field goals,” Pollock said. “Every team member that was able to play scored at least two points.”
 The second half mirrored the first with Kuemper gaining ground in the third quarter, scoring 19 to Red Oak’s 11, and Red Oak rallying in the final minutes to score 23 points to Kuemper’s 24.
Birt led the way with 16 points and four assists; Bruce 13 points; Baylor Bergren five points, six rebounds.
“On the defensive end of the floor, the Tigers struggled to keep Kuemper out of the paint and off the glass, Pollock said.
Kuemper had five players in double figures, led by Kyle Berg with 17 points.
JV
Red Oak scrapped their way to a 62-56 win over the Kuemper Catholic Knights.
After building a 19-6 lead at teheend of the first frame,  a difficult second quarter found the Tigers trailing 29-23 at the half.
The team got refocused during the break and regained the lead by the end of the third 44-38 to finish the game on top.
Couse led the scoring effort with 23 points, and Kaden Johnson chipped in 14.
Couse was unable to participate in the varsity game due to illness.