GIRLS TAKE THE WIN AGAINST ADRIAN

The MCC Rebel Girls completed a tough week of basketball this past Thursday. The Rebels were playing their 5th game in 7 days when they played host to the Adrian Dragons. It was parents’ night and senior night for the Rebels as they played their final home game of the season.

The Rebels hosted the Adrian Ellsworth Dragons in their second matchup of the season. The Dragons beat the Rebels by 8 points in Adrian earlier this season in a game in which the Rebels rallied late but would lose by 8. In this game, the Rebels put everything together the offense played as well as the defense and MCC would break their 20 game losing streak.

The Rebels have struggled this season with offense poor shooting and turnovers have really hurt their chances at wins. Even with the struggles, MCC’s defense has been relatively good all year but Thursday night everything came together.

The first half set the tone for the game as MCC’s passing was better than it has been all year. It wasn’t just one player or two it was the entire team. The ball was getting moved inside and out around the defense then through it. MCC was making the passes but they were also catching the passes and then scoring when the shots were available and when they missed the Rebels were getting some second-chance points. Seanna Swenson played her best half of the year with 8 points including a really nice free-throw line jump shot off a pass from Emily Rohrer. Zoey Iverson scored two baskets the first of the game and the last shot of the half on terrific passes. Rohrer did a great job in the paint on her way to 7 first-half points. The Rebels defense still played a strong half as the Rebels paid extra attention to Sadie Krahling the 5’10” sophomore guard. Krahling scored 6 points on two made three-point shots but all in all the Rebels did a great job of taking away open shots. The Rebels led at the half 29-16.

MCC didn’t look back in the second half even though both teams struggled early MCC didn’t do what they have done much of the season. When the Rebels have played well in the first half they usually give up a big run to open the second half. Thursday night that didn’t happen and after each team combined to score 7 points over the first six minutes of the half the Rebels got the ball back inside. Rohrer and Iverson combined for six points. Then Mary Lou McNab scored six points over a two minutes stretch while she collected four steals. Casey Miller would score two big baskets and then Seanna Swenson would score four points as the Rebels lead ballooned to 27 points.

During the last two minutes, it wasn’t a question if the Rebels would win but rather if Grace Williams would score her first varsity points. Williams was the final player looking for points on the year. Williams would get her first chance on a one and one free throw attempt and the junior forward would score. A few moments later she would make two more free throws to finish the game with 3 points. With the crowd roaring and the Rebels smiling the clock would hit zero and the MCC Rebels picked up a much-needed win 58 to 34.

The Rebels forced 18 Dragon turnovers while MCC gave it up 15 times. The Rebels defense has been strong all year but that can be difficult to measure with an offense that averages nearly 30 turnovers per game. So when you can win the turnover battle it helps both sides of the ball so much. Emily Rohrer scored 14 points for MCC and she was helped by Seanna Swenson’s 12 points and Mary Lou McNab’s 10. Zoey Iverson had a strong game with 7 points and Casey Miller chipped in with 6 while Abby Overman had a great game with 5 points but she rebounded and defended as well as she has all year. The Rebels held Sadie Krahling and Julia Bullerman to 7 points each. Madeline Wagner led the way with 9 points but with so much of the offense for the Dragons running through Krahling and Bullerman keeping them in check was a key to the win.

MCC will wrap up the regular season on Monday against WWG and then its off to the playoffs on Thursday.