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By: Brian Smith

Visiting Glenwood overpowered and out-hustled host Valley on Monday, leading from start to finish, to win 73-54. After the first few possessions of basketball, the closest the Rams came to tying it up was at 11 to 9 with 2:11 remaining in the first quarter. That’s when Glenwood’s physicality took over.

Up 15 to 10 to start the second stanza, Glenwood power forward Tyler Sykes worked for an offensive rebound and easy layup. Less than a minute later, Gators guard Braylen Alexander repeated the process. He pulled down an offensive rebound and hit the layup.

It’s not like Glenwood shot lights out. They used their size – and their grit – to provide easy scoring opportunities. Early on, Valley guard Zan Woody slashed and diced to the rim for a few nice scores, and the Rams overall quickness did present the Gators with some trouble. They just couldn’t rebound the basketball like Glenwood did to overcome the early deficit.

To try and change the pace, Valley went to a full-court press and trapped in the half-court. Trapping when possible, Valley still struggled to keep Glenwood off balance. Glenwood’s passing was good and point guard Jadarian Holloway would sometimes defeat the press with his sheer speed and ball handling.

By the middle of the third quarter, Glenwood’s will began to take its toll on Valley. They did not shoot well from the floor and the visitors were getting fast break opportunities that led to even more layups.

Even when Erin Frazier started getting into the lane and scoring 7 points during the third period, Valley’s defense couldn’t keep Glenwood off the glass or from scoring. The dagger probably came at the end of the third quarter as well.

With a few seconds remaining and a defender in his face, Alexander drilled a 25-foot right-wing jumper for three as the buzzer went off. Glenwood went into the final quarter up 54-39.

As Valley pressed and crashed the boards with some success to close the gap, they once again gave up fast break points because of their aggressiveness. Glenwood took the lead to 21 points before Valley scored a late bucket for the final score.

For Valley, Frazier led the team with 14 points. Woody added 14 while Antavious Thomas scored 7.