GIRLS WIN AT HOME VS. CANBY

The MCC Rebel Girls Basketball team was back at Woodstock Communications Court at the Murray County Central High School on Tuesday night. The Rebels have spent the last several weeks on the road and they were happy to be back on the home court. The Rebels would open the 2024 portion of their schedule with a matchup against the Canby Lancers. The two teams came into the matchup with identical records with three wins and five losses. The Rebels used their size and quickness to shut down the Lancers earning their second straight win.

It was a defensive game for the Rebels who used their size advantage to limit Canby’s second-chance points and the Rebel’s length forced the Lancers into tough three-point shots. The Lancers are a normally good outside shooting team but the Rebels didn’t allow a made three-point shot in the first half and held Canby to just four field goals in the first 18 minutes. The Rebels, on the other hand, showed off some balance scoring in the first half with five players making two shots from the field. Kelli Miller led the way with two three-point baskets and six points while Ava Deacon scored five points in the final couple of minutes for the Rebels. MCC led at the half 25 to 17.

Deacon started strong in the second half, scoring the first five points of the second half. The Lancers answered with a three-point make from Addison Driessen and two free throws from Josie Frank. The Rebels would then extend their lead to 14 points on a pair of threes, one by Taylor Larson and the other by Miller. The Lancers only got within nine points one more time the rest of the game as MCC controlled the tempo of the game. MCC got their second straight win 48 to 33.

The Lancers scored 16 of their 33 points from the free throw line while only making 8 shots from the field in the game. Only one of those 8 was a three-point basket. Canby was 1 of 14 from the threepoint line and shot just 16% from the field. The Rebels shot 35% from the field in the game, including making 6 three-point shots. Ava Deacon led the Rebels with 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals. Kelli Miller added 10 points. Jayda Hellewell had 6 points and 8 rebounds for MCC. Emily Nelson led Canby with 9 points, 7 coming from the free throw line. The Rebels are now 4-5 on the season with a game against Adrian Ellsworth coming up on Thursday.