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Ava Deacon -
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The Murray County Central Rebel Girls Basketball team was at home to open the week Monday against the Heron Lake Okabena Fulda Coyotes. The two teams had similar records with six wins and 3 losses. The Coyotes had not played since before the Christmas break. The Rebels had beat the Panthers of TMB the past Friday. This game was a defensive battle that came down to the end.
It appeared the Coyotes might blow out the Rebels when they opened the game with the first eight points of the game. They made a pair of 3-point shots in the first couple of minutes and added a layup. The Rebels defense got going and the turnovers for HLOF began to add up when the Rebels started to score. Neither team shot the basketball well in this game, but the Rebels finished the first half on a 23 to 7 run. Ava Deacon led the Rebels with 11 points including a huge 3-point basket just before the half. The Rebels led at the break 23 to 15.
The second half saw the Coyotes chip away at the MCC lead. Ashton Reierson led the way for the Coyotes while Lauryn Hendel made a couple of key shots. The Rebels held a lead much of the half, but late in the game the Coyotes took a six point lead with just over a minute to play. The Rebels got a big 3-point basket from Ava Deacon to get within three points, and on the next trip down the floor Reese Gilbertson banked in the game with a 3-point shot. With the game tied at 39-39, the Coyotes got the ball in the front court and took a timeout with 8.5 seconds to play. The Rebels deployed a zone defense and Lauryn Hendel drove to the top of the key where she picked up a screen. She got inside the free throw line, where she threw up a right handed shot that found the bottom of the net. The Coyotes got the win 41 to 39.
It was a low scoring battle with both teams struggling to shoot the basketball. The Rebels shot 21 percent from the field, making 15 of 70 shots while making 3 of 20 three point shots. HLOF didn’t shoot much better, making 14 of 64 shots for 22 percent. They did make 5 of 28 3-point shots. The two teams turned the ball over 24 times each. Ashton Reierson was the only Coyote in double figures scoring 13 points while Hendel added 9.
The Rebels were led by Ava Deacon with 16 points while Kat Miller added 9. The Rebels will play two more games this week on the road. The Rebels will head to Ellsworth to play the Dragons on Thursday and then off to Mountain Lake to play the Wolverines on Saturday.
