ON THE ROAD IN PIPESTONE

The MCC Rebels played their third game in four days on Monday night when they traveled to Pipestone to take on the Arrows. The Rebels were trying to end a three-game losing streak after winning their first two games. The Arrows were looking for their first win of the season after three straight losses to open the year. The Rebels would come out firing but the Rebels were unable to finish.

The first half was dominated by the MCC Rebels as they led by over twenty points at one point. Jayda Hellewell got the Rebels started with six early points, driving into the paint and making a couple of free throws. Then Kelli Miller checked into the game and the junior guard would make her first 3 three-point shots and a midrange jumper for 11 points. Jadyn Kor kept the Arrows alive by scoring 11 first-half points, but the rest of the Arrow team scored just ten total points. The Arrows would make a run scoring eight points late in the half to trim the Rebel halftime lead to 13 points, 34 to 21.

The second half was a slow burn for the Rebels. They held their lead for much of the half but struggled to score, even on open shots around the rim and the Arrows kept chipping away. The Arrows took a one-point lead late in the game. The Rebels withstood it and a couple of free throws by Hellewell and Ava Deacon would extend the lead back to three points, with under a minute to play. The Arrows missed a jump shot and MCC got the rebound, but would turn it over bringing it up the floor and the Arrows converted a layup to make the score 54 to 53. The Rebels got the ball into the front court and with under ten seconds to play, MCC was fouled, sending the team to the free throw line, but MCC would miss the free throws. Pipestone came back, and with a tenth of a second left in the game, the Arrows 8th grader Amyra Mahik was fouled by the Rebels on a three-point shot. With the Arrows down by one, she would go to the free throw line and make the first to tie the game but would miss her second. The third free throw was good and the Arrows picked up their first win of the season 55 to 54.

The Rebels outshot the Arrows 38% to 29.5% from the field. The Arrows made five more free throws than the Rebels and had 10 more rebounds. Jayda Hellewell led the Rebels with 15 points and Kelli Miller had 14 points. Ava Deacon and Taylor Larson each scored 8 points for MCC in the losing effort. Jaydn Kor led the Arrows with 25 points; no one else had more than 8. The Rebels will now travel to Tyler on Thursday to take on the RTR Knights.