BOYS BASKETBALL VS ADRIAN ELLSWORTH

MCC 81 - AE-40

The Rebels were back in action for the third game in four days and their first game at home in a couple of weeks against Adrian/Ellsworth. A/E came into the game with a 7-15 record, winning 2 of their last 3 games. One against Red Rock Central and the other against Edgerton. MCC was on a two game win streak, looking to make it three for the week.

MCC won the tip and got a great look on their first offensive possession, but the ball rattled in and out from 8 feet away. The Dragons got the scoring started with a deep right wing three on their first possession, as the Rebels didn’t cover up one of A/E’s better shooters on the season.

The Rebels responded, as Max Miller passed an accurate post entry pass from the right wing to the right block to Aidan Swenson, who had solid position and spacing for the quick two off the glass. Swenson scored the next two points of the game from a nice feed from Dylan Kluis. Swenson cut from the right block to the left and before he reached the block, Kluis had already started passing. Swenson met the ball at the block, turned and scored. 4-3, MCC at the 16:23 mark.

About a minute later, Swenson scored again. This time Gavin Gillette got the assist. Aidan Swenson 6, A/E 3, with three different Rebels making solid post entry passes for assists.

Dylan Kluis was the first Rebel to score, other than Swenson, on MCC’s next possession. The defense forced turnovers and got stops while the offense was executing with great passing and player movement. Kluis gained an offensive rebound with great positioning and effort and was rewarded with two points on the nice finish. 8-3, MCC with 14:51 left.

The Dragons went on a bit of a run in the next four minutes, as both teams would trade three’s and free throws, but A/E connected on a couple attacks to the basket as well. The score was 14-13 with just under 10 minutes left in the first half. Tristan Behrends connected on one of the three’s for the Rebels, while Aidan Swenson would score a deuce, and Gavin Gillette hit a free throw.

The Dragon’s took the 1514 lead on their next possession giving them their first lead since 3-0, before Andrew Holm knocked down one of two free throws. Missing the second, Hudson Schryvers cleaned up the glass and scored a deuce, giving the Rebels a 17-15 lead. Then everything started to change dramatically for the Rebels.

Max Miller hit a three, Gavin Gillette finished through contact and picked up the and-1. Gillette attacked and earned another trip to the line, making both. Carter Hanson found Max Miller on the right wing for a three in transition off a steal. Hanson then attacked baseline and dished to Andrew Holm for the two on the right block. Not done yet, Hanson drilled a left wing three on the Rebels next possession. Gillette found Miller for three in the right corner on the Rebels next possession. Hanson gathered an offensive rebound from a strong Behrends attack and hit the fall away off the glass. Behrends attacked again on the next possession and glided through the air on the right lane line to finish. All of this had happened with the Dragons scoring one basket. With 3:15 to go, it was MCC 39 and A/E 17. The Rebels went into the break up 4827. An offensive explosion for the Rebels gave them the big lead going into the second half.

The roles would reverse a little in the second half as the defense earned multiple stops in a row on multiple different occasions making it tough on the Dragons to consistently score and holding A/E to just 13 points in the half. MCC scored another 33 for the 81-40 Red Rock Conference Win. Eleven Rebels got in the score column and all contributed to the team’s 14th win of the season.

Leading Scorers: Max Miller with 18. Gavin Gillette with 16. Aidan Swenson with 12. Dylan Kluis with 6. Leading Rebounders: Aidan Swenson with 7, Hudson Schryvers with 5, Gavin Gillette, Dylan Kluis, and Dawson Schreier all with 3. Leading Assists: Carter Hanson with 5 and Hudson Schryvers with 3. Leading Steals: Gavin Gillette with 7.