GIRLS END BASKETBALL SEASON

The MCC Rebel Girls played on Thursday night against the Adrian Ellsworth Dragons to open the Sub-Section 3A South playoffs. The Rebels came into the game as the 9th seed with just 2 wins on the year while the Dragons were the 8 seed with 5. The two teams had split in the regular season with the Dragons winning the first game of the year on January 21st 52 to 44. The Rebels won the second game of the season in Slayton 58 to 34. This would be the rubber match between the two teams this season and the winner would get to move on to play the top-seeded Panthers of Tracy Milroy Balaton on Saturday.

The first half was a back and forth battle with the teams exchanging the lead MCC led the early part of the first half while the Dragons would lead towards halftime. The top players stood out on offense for both teams. Emily Rohrer scored 13 first-half points, dominating the paint and getting to the free-throw line. Sadie Krahling and Julia Bullerman combined to score 13 points for the Dragons to help offset what Rohrer was doing. The Dragons got big help from Josi Altman who scored 7 first-half points. The Dragons led at the half 29 to 26.

The second half was a strange battle. Maddi Wagner came off the bench for the Dragons in this game and had 11 secondhalf points. She played some very good basketball hitting a couple of big shots and getting key rebounds. Sadie Krahling scored 9 points for the Dragons as they tried to stay in the lead. MCC’s defense has been their strong suit all season and the offense has let them down. That was the story of this game as well. MCC forced the Dragons into 13 second-half turnovers but the Rebels could not turn the turnovers into points. Rohrer would score eight points in the second half and Abby Overman would add five points but the Rebels left too many open trips down the floor without scoring. MCC had plenty of chances they simply could not score when they needed to. The Dragons would hold on for the win 51 to 47.

Emily Rohrer was the only senior on the Rebels roster this season and she finished with maybe her best varsity game scoring 21 points. It was great to see her on the court when so many players maybe wouldn’t have played with a scholarship to play Division II Volleyball at SMSU already in hand.

That means the Rebels could return a large number of their current roster. MCC struggled this season but with young talent developing and a much more experienced team coming back the Rebels could take a major step forward with lots of hard work in the offseason. The Dragons on the other hand would advance to play the TMB Panthers on Saturday.