The Murray County Central Rebel boys opened their season this past Friday night in Sleepy Eye. The Rebels have been part of the Tip Off Classic for years and it has allowed them to get a good look at where they were to open the season. Friday night the Rebels opened with the Knights of Sleepy Eye St Marys. The Rebels got to the gym later than they had hoped due to the weather and had a shorter time than normal to warm up. It wasn’t the perfect way to open a season but the Rebels would battle through and would compete with a very good team unfortunately in a losing effort.
The first half was not an offensive showcase as both teams worked through poor shooting and the typical miscues of an early season game. The Rebels would have some strong points especially scoring around the basket but they struggled outside of the paint. In fact the Rebels made just four shots outside of the paint in the entire game. Bryce Hoekman dominated the low post leading the game in scoring but the Rebels guards were struggling to shoot or were in foul trouble limiting their time on the floor. St Mary’s would lead at the half 33 to 29.
The Rebels would bounce back in the second half and they would chip away at the four point lead and with 12:55 to play in the game the Rebels led 40 to 38. The Rebels got a nice contribution from Carter Lewis who scored 7 points in the game but the Rebels offense would go silent in the final seven minutes scoring just one point per minute. The Knights were able to take control of the game and pull away with a 68 to 56 win.
Bryce Hoekman had a terrific game for the Rebels as the 6’8” junior scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while blocking 3 shots. Christian Tentinger scored 13 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Tanner Graphenteen scored 9 points but missed a lot of time due to foul trouble. The Rebels played well overall against a good team but the struggle on offense in the final seven minutes of the game cost them a possible win.
