Glenwood girls notch victory, boys fall short against Deerfield-Windsor

The Glenwood basketball teams had an up-and-down opening day of the Opelika Ford Border Wars Tournament Thursday, as the girls grabbed a 63-52 victory and the boys lost 67-37. Glenwood faced its counterparts from Deerfield-Windsor in both games.

The Lady Gators jumped out to a 10-0 lead in their showdown with Deerfield-Windsor. It set the pace for a high-scoring affair, as the Lady Knights soon responded and set a high-tempo standard for the evening.

“It was a fast-paced game. Deerfield was on us like ants,” Glenwood head coach Julie Humphries said. “Everytime we turned around, they were there. We ended up handling the pressure and took care of business.”

Quan Holten and Morgan Grant were two key contributors that helped Glenwood set itself apart.

Holten came through time and time again -- especially from behind the 3-point line -- to derail Deerfield’s attempts to nibble away the deficit. Grant, meanwhile, was a rebounding machine for Glenwood, also finishing several second-chance shots for the offense that allowed the Lady Gators to put the game away.

Holten had a game-high 27 points, while Grant ended with 18.

“When Quan has the ball, she makes us go,” Humphries said. “It’s kind of been that duo a lot all year. Those two have been the ones who’ve scored and come through in the end. We know we can count on those two for offense and defense every night.”

Grant finished with 17 rebounds, which set the standard for the Lady Gators around the glass. They outrebounded the Lady Knights 36-18, which was a huge factor in Glenwood holding off Deerfield’s attempts to close the gap.

“I can’t say enough about our two post players, Morgan and J.J. (Woods) have been solid all year,” Humphries said. “J.J. bangs on the board. She’s probably stronger than any post in the area. Morgan is solid because she brings the rebounding but she also brings the scoring. They own the boards in every game that we play.”

The Glenwood boys, meanwhile, hit the court without starter Bryce Valero and needed to overcome a considerable height disadvantage against the Knights. The problem was the Gators fell behind by too much too quickly.

After hanging with Deerfield in the first quarter, turnovers coupled with an inability to keep up in the rebounding battle let the Knights jump out to a 34-19 lead at halftime. Deerfield kept the throttle to the floor in the third, outscoring Glenwood 23-11 to put the game out of reach.

Micah Herring led Glenwood with 9 points in the loss. Christian Clausell followed close behind with 8.

This story was originally published December 28, 2017 at 9:55 PM with the headline "Glenwood girls notch victory, boys fall short against Deerfield-Windsor."