Redmen eventually get the ball inside, pull away from Pirates

RIB LAKE 64, GILMAN 25

In search of their first win of the season, the Gilman Pirates hung with Rib Lake for nearly a half Monday, but the Redmen eventually settled in and took over the game with an inside approach in a 64-25 non-conference win.

Rib Lake scored its 64 points with just two 3-point makes. Gilman’s 2-3 zone plugged things up early and kept the Pirates in the game. The Pirates were down just 16-11 with just under five minutes to go in the first half following free throws by Caleb Marion and Branden Ustianowski and a bucket by Brayden Olynick.

But Sam Gumz and Trey Klemann provided a spark off the bench for Rib Lake with strong offensive rebounding and the Redmen eventually broke the Pirates down, outscoring them 34-11 in the second half to earn their fourth win of the year.

Rib Lake is 4-14 after falling 73-38 Tuesday to Eastern Cloverbelt Conference power Columbus Catholic, who visits Gilman tonight, Thursday. The Pirates fell to 0-16 with Monday’s loss.

“The second half was much better,” Rib Lake head coach Todd Henderson said. “That’s what we were hoping the first half would be like, but we came out a little flat. We started doing a little too much one-on-one or forcing the issue instead of being a little more patient. There’s always that fine line of trying to be aggressive and attack, but you have to attack at the right time.

“I thought Sam and Trey came off the bench and did really well rebounding inside for their size,” Henderson added. “They do a good job of battling in there.”

The Redmen scored 34 points in the paint and were 20 of 47 on two-point shots. They grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and outrebounded the Pirates overall 40-27.

Senior Logan Blomberg paced Rib Lake with 19 points and was another key factor to the Redmen breaking the game open, starting with his six points late in the half during a 14-3 run that made it 30-14 at halftime. Michael Borchardt added two easy scores off Tanner Vlach assists in that run and Klemann added a bucket.

The Pirates nudged with 32-19 early in the second half with a Grady Kroeplin hoop and a banked in 3-pointer from Dalton Wisocky.

But Rib Lake put it away with a 31-2 tear, with crisp passing, some aggressive drives, particularly by Blomberg, and a couple of outside jumpers from Vlach. Rib Lake’s aggressiveness led to 27 free throws, 18 of which were made, and fouled three Pirates out of the game, including senior post Zack Marion, Ustianowski and Joey Syryczuk.

“We’re really improving,” Gilman head coach Bobbi Marion said of the team’s good start to the game. “We just can’t put a full game together. It didn’t help that we had some guys foul out.”

Gilman led 5-3 in the early going after a Kroeplin 3-ball. Rib Lake took the lead for good on a Blomberg 3 that made it 9-6. Gumz got an offensive putback and, moments later, two free throws. That was followed by a Jackson Blomberg backcut with an assist from Klemann that made it 15-7 before the Pirates had their last little spurt that kept it close.

Kroeplin led Gilman with eight points, Ustianowski had six in his second game back after being out for a couple of weeks. Caleb Marion and Olynick scored four points apiece and Wisocky finished with three.

“Our younger players are coming along,” Bobbi Marion said. “We’re seeing some good things there. We’re definitely getting a better flow together as a team. Having Branden back has really helped us. It’s one game at a time. Just keep getting better.”

Jackson Blomberg scored eight points in the second half for Rib Lake and had 14 points for the game. Borchardt had eight, Klemann and Andrew Wudi scored six apiece, Gumz finished with five, Vlach scored four and Xavier Johnson got his first varsity points with two free throws.

Logan Blomberg and Gumz each had eight rebounds, while Jordan Yanko had six and Klemann had five. Vlach had five assists and Borchardt and Logan Blomberg had three each. Logan Blomberg also had a team-high four steals, while Borchardt had three.

Rib Lake turned the ball over nine times, while Gilman had 27 turnovers.