THE GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM HAVE HAD A BUSY PAST 7 DAYS

GBB - WWG

The MCC Rebel Girls took on the Westbrook Walnut Grove Chargers on Thursday night in a boy-girl doubleheader. The Girls varsity teams played at 6:00 pm and the Rebels were hoping to make it a second big upset of the week. The Chargers are one of the deepest and most experienced teams in the Red Rock Conference and they were ready to play on Thursday. The Rebels struggled to stay in the game, as the shots were hard to find and even tougher to get them to fall.

The Rebel offense in the first half totaled 9 points. Kelli Miller made a three-point shot and Abby Overman made a pair of free throws. Jayda Hellewell and Ava Deacon each made one shot from the field. That was it for the Rebels, as they turned the ball over 19 times in the first half. Addeson Jenniges scored 7 for the Chargers and Amelia Sikel scored six points, leading the Chargers to a 25 to 9 lead. The Rebels defense held up pretty well considering the offensive struggles.

The Chargers would only get better in the second half, scoring 35 second-half points. Izzy Klumper scored 8 points in the second half and Sikel added another 6 points. The Rebels scored 17 points in the second half but that wasn’t enough, as the Chargers would pull away.

GBB - WABASSO

The MCC Rebels opened the week with a pair of games on Monday and Tuesday. The Rebels were playing four straight games without practice after playing this past Thursday and Friday and then on Monday and Tuesday. The Rebels opened the week at home against the Wabasso Rabbits who beat the Rebels in Wabasso in early December in their holiday tournament. The Rebels would get some revenge with a nice win on Monday night.

The first time the two teams met, Avery and Sara Carlson put up double-figure scoring nights and the Rebels had one of their worst games of the season. On Monday, the Rebels were able to use their strong defense to slow down the Rabbits and contain their offense. The Rabbits would score just 14 points in the first half with Anistasia Smith scoring 6 points and Avery Carlson scoring 5. Sara Carlson scored the other three points. MCC, on the other hand, was led by Kelli Miller who scored 11 firsthalf points while Thea Schneider, Lily Daniels, and Jayda Hellewell each scored 4. The Rebels led at the half 28 to 14.

The second half would see the Rabbits make a run at the Rebels and over time they would cut the Rebels lead down to just four points. Smith scored 10 points in the second half for Wabasso, as did Avery Carlson, but the rest of the team only scored 4. MCC’s offense struggled, but in the final three minutes, Jayda Hellewell would score 10 points and the Rebels never let the Rabbits get within three points. The Rebels would hold on for the 47 to 38 win.

The Rebels forced the Rabbits into 21 turnovers and though MCC gave the ball away 17 times, they didn’t allow the Rabbits to score many easy baskets. Kelli Miller and Jayda Hellewell each scored 14 and Thea Schneider chipped in with 6 points. Ava Deacon and Abby Overman played great defense on the Rabbit perimeter players and Kate Blankenship replaced the two starters at times to give them a break and keep up the tough defense. It was the Rebel’s 8th win of the season against 10 losses.

Kelli Miller scored 6 points from the three-point line and Ava Deacon scored 5 points. The Chargers got the win 60 to 26.

The Chargers outshot the Rebels from the field 30% to 25%. MCC made 4 of 6 free throws which is a great percentage but not nearly enough attempts and the Chargers made 13 free throws in 21 attempts. The Rebels turned the ball over 31 times and WWG gave the ball away 11 times. Kelli Miller scored 9 points for the Rebels and Ava Deacon added 7. WWG was led by Amelia Sikel who scored 12 points while Izzy Klumper added 11 and Natalie Wahl chipped in with 10.

GBB - ADRIAN ELLSWORTH

The MCC Rebel Girls wrapped up their week on Friday at home against the Dragons of Adrian Ellsworth. It was the second time this season the Rebels played the Dragons with the first, a couple of weeks ago in Ellsworth. The Rebels, that night, failed to score in the first eight minutes of the game. On Friday, the start of the game wasn’t the problem for the Rebels. It was more the Dragons, who were able to get the ball in easy scoring positions, rather than the Rebels, who had to work to get an open shot. For the second time this season, the Rebels would lose to Adrian Ellsworth.

The first half of this game was played fairly evenly. The two teams combined for 19 turnovers with the Rebels having 10 and the Dragons 9. The difference was at the free-throw line. Adrian Ellsworth made nine free throws and the Rebels made 2. The Dragons made two more shots from the field than the Rebels. Taylor Larson led the Rebels with 9 points in the first half making a teamhigh 4 shots. Sadie Krahling led the Dragons with 16 points, scoring more than half her team’s points in the first half. The Dragons led the Rebels at the half 31 to 21.

The Rebels would score the same number of points in the second half as they did in the first half, but they did cut their turnovers in half. The Dragons got more balanced scoring in the second half, even though, as a team, they scored four fewer points than in the first. Brylee Zebe led Adrian Ellsworth with 7 points in the second half while Krahling and Shandra Cuperus scored 6 points each. Kelli Miller led the Rebels in the second half with nine points on 3 made threepoint shots. MCC just couldn’t catch up and the Dragons got the win 58 to 42.

The Rebels forced the Dragons into 21 turnovers in the game while only giving the ball away 14 times themselves. Unfortunately, the Dragons shot 30% from the field while the Rebels made just 23%, which was their major downfall in this game. If the Rebels made more shots they would have had a chance in this game. Sadie Krahling led the Dragons with 22 points in the game. Taylor Larson and Kelli Miller each scored 14 points in the game for the Rebels. With the Rebels top two scorers canceling out the Dragon’s top scorer, MCC needed more of a push offensively from the rest of the roster and that push wasn’t strong enough on Friday. Especially with Zebe and Cuperus scoring 10 points each for the win. MCC would get ready for a Monday night showdown in Slayton against the Wabasso Rabbits.

GBB - SWC

The MCC Rebels came back 24 hours after beating the Wabasso Rabbits to play host to the 15-1 Southwest Minnesota Christian Eagles. The Eagles came in as the top team in the Red Rock Conference, without a conference loss and were looking to add another win to their season total. The Rebels were hoping to challenge the Eagles and prove they could play with them. In some ways, both teams would get what they wanted.

The Eagles started the game quickly, as Madyson Fey and Ana Veldkamp started strong, each scoring nine points in the first several minutes, and MCC trailed 18-2. The Rebels would fight back and challenge the Eagles. Though they got back in the game, they were unable to trim the Eagle lead under nine points. The Rebels turned the ball over 19 times in the first half but found a way to score 21 first-half points, which is hard to do if you hardly ever have the ball. The Eagles led at the half 41-21.

The two teams started the second half in similar ways, as each team scored 8 points to open the half. Then SWC got rolling with Fey hitting threepoint shots and Veldkamp scoring in the paint. The lead ballooned to 30 at one point, but the Rebels would chip it back down to 24. Lily Daniels scored eight straight points for the Rebels with a pair of threepoint shots and a jump shot from ten feet out. Taylor Larson scored 5 points in the half but MCC wouldn’t seriously challenge the Eagles lead. SWC would win 67 to 43.

The Rebels forced 20 turnovers out of the Eagles but they gave the ball away 37 times, which was one reason for the score to be where it was. MCC limited their scoring by turning the ball over too much. MCC was very balanced on offense with 9 of 10 players scoring, led by Lily Daniels and Taylor Larson scoring 8 points each. Abby Overman, Jayda Hellewell, and Kate Blankenship all scored 5 points each. The Rebels lost by 24 points to the Eagle. To put it in some context, the Rebels trailed 18 to 2 in the first half and were only outscored by 8 points from that point forward. Although there is plenty of room for improvement, they didn’t get blown off the floor by the Eagles The Rebels will wrap up their week on Thursday at home against RTR.