REBELS FALL TO WWG IN OVERTIME

The B and Varsity teams played in Westbrook and both games came down to the wire as back and forth play created some exciting moments Friday night.

The B-squad had a bit of a sloppy night as both teams played tough defense and made each other work in the half court to find buckets. Led by Dylan Kramer, Bryce Hoekman, and Ross Englekes the Rebels were able to escape the first half with a two-point advantage at 16-14. Kramer, Hoekman, and Englekes each had 5 first half points and Carter Lewis had the other point, as he went 1-2 from the foul line.

The second half would look fairly similar to the first as the teams would battle back and forth, with neither team really taking control of the game. As free throws would be the difference down the stretch and a dominating second half performance by Hoekman would help the Rebels secure a 5-point victory, 39-34. Hoekman had 12 second half points and went 2-2 from the foul line. Dylan Kramer would go 2-3 from the foul line and Ross Englekes would go 4-4 to help secure the game for MCC.

Scoring: Bryce Hoekman 17, Dylan Kramer and Ross Englekes 9 each, Carter Lewis 2, Ben Ahlers 2 Rebounding: Bryce Hoekman 8, Ross Englekes 7, Dylan Kramer 5 Assists: Ross Englekes 4.

The Varsity would be in for a barn burner of a game, a game that would see teams answer each other’s best efforts and go back and forth all night long. It was a game that had the makings of who ever had the last run would be ok and that is how this game would end up.

The Rebels would get off to nice start as Chant Mitchell would gather in the tip won by WWG and take it in for the layup. On the next defensive possession MCC would play solid man to man defense and make WWG work the ball around for about 20 seconds before coming up with a steal. In transition Derek Kluis would come off a Nate Kleven screen, pop to the wing, catch a pass from Tanner Graphenteen and post enter the ball to Nate Kleven in great position on the right block Kleven would kiss it off the glass and it was 4-0 Rebels quickly. Another defensive stop would follow with a Chant Mitchell to Nate Kleven bucket from the right block again. WWG would get on the board on their next possession going 1-2 from the foul line and the score would stand at 6-1 before both teams would trade turnovers and the Rebels would put up a quick three, going away from where they were having success to start the game. WWB would quickly push in transition and earn another trip to the foul line as Cole VanDewiele would knock in 2. Chant Mitchell would answer the 2 with a nice running jumper from the short corner to put MCC up 8-3 in the early going. Both teams would trade possessions until Derek Kluis would get a steal and find Graphenteen in transition for the quick 2. WWG would use it’s first timeout as MCC grabbed control early at 10-3. Out of the timeout VanDewiele and Chant Mitchell would trade buckets then foul trouble and three-point shooting would change the trajectory of the ball game quickly. Brady Ross would enter the game for WWG and shortly after Derek Kluis and Nate Kleven would exit it for the Rebels with foul trouble. Ross would immediately knock down 1 of his 4 first half threes, and he would end the game hitting 5.

The other parts of the game that would start to hurt the Rebels during this WWG run was rebounding and quick shots. WWG would start to gather offensive rebounds which inevitably ended with baskets and MCC would make one pass and shoot or one pass and turn it over, playing too fast for their own good. All of a sudden it was 18-14 WWG. The Chargers would take advantage of the Rebels quick shots and turnovers and convert in transition or convert in three-point fashion. At the end of the night WWG shot 47% from behind the arc. The two teams would trade baskets all the way to 24-20 WWG when Sophomore Bryce Hoekman would enter the game and make his presence felt. A blocked shot on one end led to a Hoekman lay-in for two on the other, cutting the lead to 2 and giving the Rebels a nice boost off the bench. Graphenteen would drill a three a couple possessions later to put MCC back up at 25-24. WWG’s Dan Kleven, cousin of MCC’s Nate Kleven would score on the next possession and Christian Tentinger would answer with an attack and score for MCC to take the lead back. VanDewiele would connect on a tough drive and finish with about 10 seconds left to take the lead. But MCC wasn’t quite done yet, Abe Paulzine would pump fake and attack from the left corner and get fouled to earn a trip to the FT line. The Junior would miss the front end of the one and one, but Chant Mitchell would secure the rebound, put a shot back up, secure his own miss and score it with no time remaining in the half. A wild first half would end with MCC up 29-28.

The second half would start with two MCC turnovers and a WWG bucket before Tanner Graphenteen would knock down a three point shot. The game would stay tight for another minute or so before WWG went on a big run, which was started by Brady Ross and his 5th three-point shot of the night. Only this time it would be followed up by a Dan Kleven three and a Cole VanDewiele three as well and all of a sudden MCC was down 11 with 9:51 to go. 47-36. Out of a MCC timeout the teams would trade turnovers before Christian Tentinger would slash to the basket for two and Chant Mitchell would add a mid-range jump shot for two more. The two teams would trade free throws before Graphenteen would earn an and-1. He would convert and at the 6:17 mark the game stood at WWG 48 and MCC 44.

But it was a game of runs as WWG would answer back and push the lead back to 9 at the 4:34 mark and have the ball. The score was 55-46 and the Rebels would turn WWG over and it would lead to a Chant Mitchell 3. The Rebels would get another stop and Mitchell would find himself on the line on the next possession. He would go 1-2 and with under 3 minutes to go the score was 55-50. MCC would get another stop and in transition Christian Tentinger would connect on a smooth finish to cut the lead to a one possession game.

The two teams would trade stops and misses until Graphenteen had a big steal about at mid-court and would convert on a nice lay-up to cut the lead to 1 with 1 minute to go. Poor defense on the other end would lead to a quick 2 by Dan Kleven to put WWG back up 3. The Rebels would have one shot to tie with just under 17 seconds to go. MCC would call a timeout and run a play that would be entered to the left elbow to Chant Mitchell, Mitchell would kick to the right wing to Derek Kluis who initiated the play. As the pass happened Tanner Graphenteen would circle through the lane coming through an elevator screen by Kleven and Mitchell catching the ball at the top of the key, Tanner would pump fake, slide dribble, and step back to his left and drain the game tying three. MCC would get a contested stop as time ran out to send the game into overtime, 57-57.

Overtime would be where the Chargers would get the only run and unfortunately for the Rebels a great game would come to a close with a 7-point loss. The two teams would trade baskets early, then WWG would score and turn the Rebels over multiple times to finish out the game. MCC would fall 69-62 in a highly competitive game.

Scoring: Chant Mitchell 20, Tanner Graphenteen 17, Christian Tentinger 12, Nate Kleven 6, Derek Kluis 3, Aidan Dierks 2, Bryce Hoekman 2 Rebounding: Chant Mitchell 10, Christian Tentinger 9, Nate Kleven 8 Assists: Tanner Graphenteen 3, Chant Mitchell 2 Steals: Derek Kluis 4, Chant Mitchell, Christian Tentinger, and Nate Kleven each had 2 each.