BOYS' SMSU HOLIDAY CLASSIC

The MCC boys basketball team would face two very different opponents over the weekend. First off, competing against an undefeated Minneota, then facing off with a 1-win Renville County West team to finish the classic.

MCC would strike first, as Bryce Hoekman hit a 10 foot jump shot to get things started. Not to ruin the rest of the story, but this would be the only lead the Rebels would own for the rest of the game.

MCC’s defense struggled early, giving up two wide open three point shots to Minneota’s best shooter, as well as a 15 foot jumper to the Vikings point guard. In between these possessions, the Rebels would fire up quick shots and turn the ball over against Minneota’s pressure. Just like that is was 8-2.

MCC struck back with another Hoekman jumper, but the Vikings answered quickly to take a 10-4 lead. Carter Lewis was fouled on the next Rebel possession and went 2-2 from the stripe.

A common theme would start to develop after the Rebels next two possessions. A turnover which led to a 2-1 fast break turned into a lay-up and that was followed by a 10 second half court violation. MCC just looked to be playing on their heels. Another aspect of the game that was not sharp with this mentality was defensive rebounding. The Rebels gave up 16 offensive rebounds in the game. The unfortunate part is the defense was really good, they held Minneota to 26% shooting from beyond the arc and to 32% shooting overall from the field. Not being aggressive enough to finish the possessions, made it difficult to find a rhythm on the other end of the court.

When Minneota scored, they were able to set up their press, which forced the Rebels into 21 turnovers, 13 in the second half. Almost half of these turnovers led directly to transition points for the Vikings. MCC continually walked the ball up the court, which allowed for Minneota to get set up in their press and drop into their halfcourt defense, a tough combination to overcome for any team, when you are not consistently finishing defensive possessions with rebounds and are turning the ball over on nearly 1/3 of your possessions.

The crazy part was the Rebels were in the game. Trailing by 4 at the end of the first half 29-25, shooting 30% from the field.

The second half would start a lot like the first half had gone. MCC would get a stop, but then turned the ball over. Then the Rebels would get another stop, but miss a wide open 15 foot jump shot and then immediately follow that up with a poor foul 60 feet away from the opponents basket.

Poor backside defensive rotation on the next defensive possession allowed Minneota to strike first to go up 31-25. Again, the Rebels wouldn’t go away. Hoekman answered back on the next Rebels possession to get the game back to a four point lead.

It seemed like every time MCC would gain a little momentum, the Vikings would answer back with a score of their own and when the Rebels would get a stop after a score, rarely, if ever, did they score on back to back possessions.

There wasn’t much continuity for the Rebels as the Vikings seemed to always be a step ahead on both sides of the floor. As the second half went on, the turnovers started to mount up, as did the transition buckets for Minneota, and the frustration for MCC. The Vikings would stretch the lead between 6-10 points more consistently now and the Rebels could never find their rhythm. Minneota would end up winning 64-46, which looks like a blow out, but there was some distancing done late in the game. For all of what seemed to go wrong for MCC, they were in the game until about the 4 minute mark of the second half. Unfortunate performance by MCC, but luckily they would have another crack at it the very next day.

Leading Scorers: Bryce Hoekman, 14 Aidan Dierks, 8 Hudson Schyrvers, 7 Leading Rebounders: Bryce Hoekman, 9 Carter Lewis, 8 Gavin Gillette, 6 Leading Steals: Owen Gillette, 2 Leading Assists: Gavin Gillette, 3 The Rebels were looking for a bounce back performance on Saturday vs. Renville County West and MCC would do just that.

MCC looked like they were in attack mode from the jump as Gavin Gillette drove hard to the basket on the first possession of the game. He would miss, but the mindset was there. Carter Lewis crashed the glass on the backside, gobbled up an offensive rebound and finished with a contested shot off the glass. RCW would answer on their next possession to tie the game, but the Rebels defense looked like their offense, aggressive and moving together as a unit. RCW would not score again for a couple of minutes.

On the previous night, MCC gave up offensive rebounds. In this game, the Rebels would work hard to end each possession with a defensive rebound. The Rebels only allowed 3 offensive rebounds for the entire game while MCC crashed the boards and grabbed 10 offensive boards themselves.

With this extra effort, the ball moved better on offense, the communication was noticeable in all aspects, and the chemistry and continuity was evident. On multiple occasions, the Rebels would execute the “one” more pass for an open three or attack the gap. The guys were attacking the ball instead of watching the flight of the ball and hoping it bounces to you. Especially Gavin Gillette and Hudson Schyrvers. The two juniors combined for 20 rebounds! Gillette had 12 rebounds to go along with his 12 points and 3 assists, while Schyrvers was tough in the middle, grabbing 8 physical rebounds, he also had 1 block, 5 assists, and 6 points.

This mindset that had shifted from the game before to now, would allow MCC to go into the break with a 43 to 26 lead. Bryce Hoekman led the way with 19 first half points, followed by a host of Rebels scoring. MCC had 8 players in the scorebook after the first half. Indicative of better ball and player movement, effort, and team play.

The Rebels would pick up where they left off in the second half. 8 players would earn their way into the scorebook again, but multiple players would also contribute with steals, deflections, rebounds, assists, and hustle plays. Each Rebel was able to play in the game. MCC would score 43 more points in the second half and the defense was stingy, only allowing RCW to score 21. Max Miller had an explosive couple of minutes of play as the Sophomore went 3-3 from beyond the arc in the second half to finish with 9 points.