MCC REBEL GIRLS WIN OVER HLOF

Murray County Central Rebel Girl’s basketball opened the season last week with a home win over the TMB Panthers on Tuesday night. Friday the Rebels were on the road to Fulda to take on the Coyotes of Heron Lake Okabena Fulda. The Coyotes lost to Lakeview on Tuesday of last week 62 to 13 and were looking to bounce back against the Rebels. MCC seemed focused to pick up their second win of the season and it all started with their defense.

MCC’s full-court defense was effective in their first game against TMB and was even better on Friday. The Rebels would take the Coyotes out of their offense from the tip as they forced 24 first-half turnovers. In some cases the Rebels got chances to score on the fastbreak other turnovers would be out of bounds and the Rebels would have to run their offense and in either case, the Rebels would get shot attempts. The Rebels didn’t play the best offense as they didn’t shoot as well as they did against TMB but that did not matter. Jayda Hellewell had a terrific start in the game scoring 14 first-half points Hellewell would make as many shots from the field as the Coyote’s entire team the one difference is HLOF made 3 three-point shots in the first half. Kelli Miller would get hot scoring 7 points over a couple of minutes as MCC’s lead continued to increase. Tori Reynolds and Renae Salentiny scored 5 points each to lead the Coyotes in the first half. The Rebels led 38 to 18 at the half.

The Rebels’ defense was only better in the second half not because they got more turnovers but because they didn’t allow many open shots. It would take the Coyotes over eight minutes to score in the second half. As the Coyotes struggled to score the Rebels were able to pull away even though they didn’t have a great shooting game. Ava Deacon would score nine points in the second half to lead the Rebels in scoring; she outscored the entire Coyotes team by 1. The Rebels balance continued to be a key for the team as 8 of 9 players scored for the Rebels four players scored more than one basket in the half as MCC got the win 64 to 26.

The Rebels once again had 3 players score in double figures and the bench again helped lead the way. Jayda Hellewell led MCC with 16 points in a strong showing for the senior forward. Ava Deacon scored 13 points for her varsity game in double figures. Kelli Miller added 12 points in the game, her second straight game in double figures. Abby Overman scored 9 points and had 5 rebounds to lead the team. MCC forced 43 Coyote turnovers in the contest which was the big difference maker. Ava Fisher led the Coyotes with 7 points five of which came in the second half. The Rebels will play host to the Edgerton Flying Dutchmen on Tuesday night.