BOYS WIN AGAINST EDGERTON

The Rebels A and B teams took on the Edgerton Flying Dutchmen Tuesday night, in their second Red Rock Conference match-up of the season. In the first meeting in Edgerton both the A and B teams walked away with victories as both squads would hope to do the same tonight.

The B-Squad got off to a nice start as Ross Englekes would hit a three point shot from the right wing. Following a stop, Carter Lewis would find a rimrunning Bryce Hoekman for the soft touch bank shot from the right block in transition. Englekes would hit 1-2 from the foul line and Carter Lewis would score 2 points attacking baseline to push the Rebels out to a 8-0 lead. The two teams would play pretty even for the rest of the first half as the Rebels would go into the break, up 9, 24-13. Dylan Kramer, Hudson Schryvers and Ross Englekes would all hit a three point shot in the first half. Englekes would end the half with 6, Lewis 5, Hoekman, 6.

In the second half the Rebels would continue a consistent scoring pattern as they would connect on 24 points in the half, but the defensive pressure and intensity was evident. Only allowing 8 second half points helped the Rebels earn a 47-22 win. Dylan Kramer would connect on 6 second half points, Ben Ahlers had 4, Gavin Gillette 1, Hudson Schryvers 5, Owen Gillette hit two, threepoint shots in the second half, and Carter Lewis had one bucket.

The Varsity was looking to make it three straight wins in a row, all Red Rock Conference games. A win tonight would solidify a winning season for the Rebels, give them their 10th conference win, and at worst finish 3rd in the Red Rock Conference this season.

The Rebels would start the game off with a bit of an inconspicuous start. Missing three shots in the paint on their first possession. It’s great to see the offensive rebounding, you just want to see a reward for doing it. The Rebels would earn a stop on the next defensive possession and then start working the ball around patiently against the 23 zone. Not able to score, but you could see that the players were willing to be patient and work the ball around for an open look. The Flying Dutchmen would take the lead on their next possession and go up 2-0, but the Rebels would respond with an Abe Paulzine 3 from the corner. The Rebels would get another stop on the following possession and Chant Mitchell would make a great in air touch pass to Nate Kleven on the block for the easy two.

Up 5-2, the game would get a little ugly for a few possessions for both teams as turnovers and tipped passes, physical play would muck things up before the Rebel offense would strike again as Nate Kleven would connect on another two from the block. Tanner Graphenteen would steal the ball and take it to the basket in transition on the next Edgerton possession. The Dutchmen would get their second bucket off a Rebel turnover before a patient attack on the Rebel offensive side ended in a Chant Mitchell basket. The Rebels were up 11-4 at the 10:50 mark.

The Rebels would find open looks from the outside, albeit they didn’t all go in, but the offensive rebounds mounted up for MCC. Bryce Hoekman was the benefactor of a Tanner Graphenteen offensive rebound, as Hoekman showed his touch and banked in the 10-foot jumper. Aidan Dierks would put the Rebels up 10, 16-6 after he drilled his first of three, threepoint shots of the game.

Edgerton would cut it back to 8 before Chant Mitchell found a cutting Christian Tentinger for the lay-up. Mitchell had the ball in the short corner facing the corner as Tentinger cut backside to the opposite block, Mitchell threw a no-look pass over his shoulder for the easy two. The Rebels up 18-8 with 6 minutes remaining in the half. The two teams would play about even for the rest of the half, with Edgerton chipping into the 10-point lead by one, going into halftime down 24-15. A solid defensive effort really by both teams, as the Rebels had some trouble hitting from beyond the arc and the Flying Dutchmen’s strength was in the middle of their zone, making the Rebels earn buckets by offensive rebounds and put backs, but a balanced attack had 7 Rebels score in the first half compared to 4 from Edgerton. Aidan Dierks led MCC with 7 first half points.

The second half had the Rebels starting with the ball, solid ball movement and patience found Chant Mitchell feeding fellow big man Nate Kleven for a baby hook bank shot to get the half off to a good start. The two teams would trade mini runs for the next couple minutes before MCC would take off and widen out the lead. Stacking multiple stops in a row with offensive possessions that ended with free throws, lay-ups, or open threes, the Rebels were up by 19 with 12 minutes left.

With 9 minutes to go the Rebels were up 43-22. MCC would be stuck on 43 for quite some time and Edgerton would go on a 6-0 run before Tanner Graphenteen would convert on a strong finish in the lane at the 3:40 mark to put MCC up 45-28. Edgerton would score again to cut it to 15 before Christian Tentinger and Ross Englekes would each score on nice attacks from the right wing. Tentinger went all the way to the bucket and Englekes hit a nice 10-foot jumper. With under two minutes remaining the score read MCC 49 and Edgerton 30. Carter Lewis and Bryce Hoekman would each make a free throw in the final minute of the game and the Rebels would make it three in a row, winning 51-32.

MCC sits at 13-10 with two games remaining. They play MLAC on Friday, senior night and come back Monday against RRC in Lamberton. Section voting happens later this week, as Super Saturday is only a week and a half away.

Scoring Leaders: Aidan Dierks 12, Tanner Graphenteen 10, Christian Tentinger 8, Nate Kleven 6, Abe Paulzine 5, Chant Mitchell 4, Bryce Hoekman 3, Ross Englekes 2, Carter Lewis 1. Rebound Leaders: Nate Kleven 10, Christian Tentinger 8, Chant Mitchell 5, Aidan Dierks 4. Steals Leaders: Nate Kleven and Tanner Graphenteen 2 each. Assist Leaders: Chant Mitchell 4, Christian Tentinger 2.