REBEL BOYS BASKETBALL VS MLAC

The boys basketball team was back in action Friday night against Mountain Lake Area Comfrey in their first home game of the season and first Red Rock Conference game of the year.

MCC won the tip to start the game and also scored the first two points of the game on a Dylan Kluis bucket. Two offensive rebounds, one by Aidan Swenson and the other by Hudson Schryvers led to the Kluis bank shot. Schryvers earned the assist.

MLAC tied the game up on their first possession as a determined and quick Wolverine squad attacked the bucket, drawing the foul and two shots from the line. Connecting on both, the score was 2-2 in the first 35 seconds of the game.

Kluis scored again on a nice cut from the top of the key. Carson Engelkes earned the assist. The Rebels switched into a zone press and stole the next Wolverine pass, but unfortunately gave it right back with an errant pass of their own. This would happen on multiple occasions for MCC on this night, trading turnover for turnover. Overall MCC lost the turnover battle by 2, 22 to 20. MLAC had 13 steals to MCC’s 12. The rest were dead ball turnovers.

MLAC missed a three on their next possession, but MCC gave it right back, before getting set up in their offense. The Wolverines turned the ball over on their next possession. Carson Engelkes picked up a loose ball and kicked it to Kluis for the left wing three.

Poor transition defense would follow for MCC, giving the momentum right back to MLAC, as the Rebels did not get back on defense in their press, giving up the easy lay-up. A turnover followed for the Rebels, compounding the frustration.

The Rebels earned a stop on the next trip down and with the clock at 15 minutes, MCC was up 7-4.

The turnover fest continued as MLAC got sped up in transition, losing control of the ball. This turned into an Aidan Swenson paint bucket. MCC got another stop, before an unforced turnover by MCC gave the ball back to the Wolverines.

This game had the feel of a first game of the season. The Rebels looked “off” at times, but their effort was always there. They competed hard all night long against a scrappy and quick MLAC team.

With the score 9-8 MCC and under 13 minutes to play, MLAC went into a zone. This is when senior Gavin Gillette started to heat up. He hit his first three from the right wing. Then on the next possession, hit another three from the right wing, a bit closer to the corner. He wasn’t done yet, not even close. Gillette would hit another three at the 10:25 mark off a Carter Hanson drive and kick out, putting the score at 20-11. Gavin was only half done from beyond the arc at this point in the first half.

Cayden Veldhuisen earned a trip to the foul line to stretch the lead to 9, knocking down a pair before Hanson and Gillette created a turnover on the ensuing Wolverine possession.

MCC found multiple shots around the basket in the first half to accompany the eventual 7 made three pointers, but struggled to connect. Being balanced on offense and able to score from all over the court proved to be huge in this game.

One of the plays of the game happened at the 8:23 mark, shortly after Andrew Holm entered the game. Neither team had much energy at this point as the score had been 22-13 for a couple of minutes. Holm, who is known to be the ultimate competitor and team player, put his body on the line instantly, taking his team leading 4th charge of the season.

Holm made another winning play on the next offensive possession, drawing a foul with a head and shoulder fake, which extended the possession. It led to a Carter Hanson drive and attack, then a dish to Dylan Kluis for a bucket from the opposite block. This energy carried over as the defense did not allow a point for over 3 and half minutes. Carson Engelkes earned an ‘and-one’ opportunity after an offensive rebound and put back. Unfortunately for the Rebels two poor possessions in a row would occur letting MLAC back into the game. Poor transition defense led to a wide open three and this was followed up by a poor wing to top of the key pass that was stolen for the easy transition lay-up.

MCC answered back with another Gavin Gillette three and then an offensive rebound put back by Dylan Kluis, followed by an offensive rebound put back by Andrew Holm. a 7-0 run in less than a minute. MCC was up ten, 33-23 with 2:26 to play and ended the half on a 8-2 run, going into the break 41-25. Gillette scored 6 of the seven on his fifth and sixth, three’s of the half. Hanson made two free throws to round it out.

The second half added plenty of action, as the MLAC energy was still abundant. MCC turned the ball over on their first possession, which led to poor defense and rebounding. MLAC earned an offensive board and put back for the first score of the half. More poor rebounding effort followed as the Wolverines earned extra possessions. It seemed like the Rebels were on defense for long stretches of the first part of the second half.

Aidan Swenson picked up his third foul early in the edsecond half, putting him on the bench for most of it. Losing a presence in the middle started to take its toll on MCC. After Gavin Gillette’s seventh three, MCC was up 20 with around 14:30 left in the half, but this is when the Wolverine’s made a big run. Cutting the lead all the way down to 9 with 10 minutes to go, 52 to 43.

Shortly after, Hudson Schyrvers put back a bucket off his own miss and sophomore Tristan Behrends entered the scene in a big way, knocking down not 1, not 2, but 3 huge three’s, gaining the separation back for the Rebels. Aidan Swenson was back in the mix, as well, as Carter Hanson found him with a fantastic post entry pass. Swenson had his man sealed, went and caught the lob pass and put it in for two. By the 7:45 mark MCC was up 62-45.

There was a lot of game left, but MCC never relinquished the lead, stretching it back to 20 and earning the 71-53, hard fought victory on their home and conference opener.

MCC will be back in action Monday, as they host the Pipestone Arrows.

Leading Scorers: Gavin Gillette, 21. Dylan Kluis, 15. Aidan Swenson, 12. Tristan Behrends, 9.

Leading Assists: Carter Hanson, 6. Hudson Schyrvers, 4.

Leading Steals: Gavin Gillette, 7. Dylan Kluis, 2.

Leading Rebounders: Hudson Schyrvers, 7, all offensive. Dylan Kluis, Aidan Swenson, and Andrew Holm, 5 each. Carson Engelkes and Carter Hanson each had 3.

MCC shot 44% for the game as the Wolverines shot 35%. The Rebels won the rebounding battle 36 to 19.