The Rebels capped off a busy week with their fourth game on Saturday in Hills, facing the 9-3 conference foe for the second time. The first game was a 6964 loss for the Rebels, and this one would be a tight one as well.
The Rebels would start on defense and get a stop, which quickly turned into offense, as the early post entry pass to Bryce Hoekman happened before the double team would arrive. HBC answered right back, before Hoekman struck again with a strong post entry pass that he went after, caught and finished quickly.
The two teams traded turnovers before HBC connected on two free throws to tie the game. The Rebels would turn the ball over on their next two possessions. This would be a common theme throughout the game, unfortunately, as MCC would accrue 25 turnovers.
Ross Engelkes earned a steal himself as both teams were playing full court pressure. He finished in the paint for two, then Hudson Schyrvers connected for two more on the step through after one of Aidan Dierks two steals was made.
MCC battled through the turnovers, but they also had to battle through foul trouble. Senior Ross Engelkes had to sit much of the first half with two early fouls, as did Junior Hudson Schyrvers. MCC would play well for most of the first half minus those two categories.
The two teams traded buckets and MCC led 12-11 with 11:31 to go before Gavin Gillette knocked down a left corner three. Aidan Swenson hit a 17 foot jumper on the Rebels next possession. The defense was getting stops and the offense was finding a rhythm. Aidan Dierks hit a three to answer back from an HBC three at the 9:23 mark, putting MCC up 20-14. MCC got another stop when Aidan Dierks made a beautiful half court lob pass for the alleyoop finish by Hoekman to put the Rebels up 22-14 and HBC called their first timeout.
The Rebels pushed their lead to 10, at 31-21 with just under 5 minutes remaining in the half. That’s when the offense stalled out and the turnovers started to mount. MCC would not score again the rest of the half! Going into the break, the score was MCC 31 and HBC 28.
The second half started in an ominous way for the Rebels, as the team had three cracks at a basket on one possession and ultimately ended up with a turnover. A sign of things to come, unfortunately. HBC took its first lead at the 14:40 mark after an offensive rebound was given up by the Rebels, which led to the corner three. 35-34 was the score.
HBC found a nice rhythm for much of the second half as they went on a 15-3 run to open the half. At the 10:17 mark the score was 45 to 34 HBC. The crazy thing was, when MCC did not turn the ball over, they would find great looks on the offensive end, they just didn’t fall. Defensively, the Rebels made HBC work, shot clocks were routinely down in the single digits or just above. The Rebels kept working and went on a run of their own to answer back.
Next thing you know, the score was 47-45 HBC with 4 minutes to play as Gavin Gillette finished in transition. HBC scored the next 4 points.
MCC had some nice looks on their next possessions, but just couldn’t get the ball to fall through the net. With 1:08 to play, HBC made a free throw to go up 52-45. MCC would, unfortunately, turn the ball over on an errant pass and wouldn’t get any closer, as HBC connected on free throws and beat MCC 57-48. Tough loss for sure, but all things considered, MCC overcame a lot of adversity in the game and still had their chances. It was a good week for the Rebels, taking three out of four games. Almost a great week! MCC will be back in action next Friday as they travel to Mountain Lake to take on the one-loss Wolverines.
Leading Scorers: Gavin Gillette with 11, Bryce Hoekman with 10 Leading Rebounders: Bryce Hoekman with 7, Aidan Dierks with 5, Owen Gillette with 5, Carter Lewis with 5 Leading Steals: Aidan Dierks with 2 Leading Assists: Aidan Dierks with 4
