The MCC Rebel Girls opened their week at home on Monday night facing the Hills Beaver Creek Patriots. The Patriots beat the Rebels soundly earlier this season on the road in a game in which the Rebels had more turnovers than points scored. MCC would not repeat the performance on Monday night and though the Rebels did some things better the outcome was still the same. The Patriots would pick up another win in the Red Rock Conference.
Among the positives for the Rebels was the first half where the Rebels competed and played about as well as they can for most of the half. MCC’s defense in the paint was strong and though they gave up a few more rebounds than they would like MCC only allowed the starting bigs for HBC to score 4 first-half points. Emily Rohrer and Seanna Swenson on the other hand combined for 10 points. The Rebels struggled for another game in containing a good outside shooter. Hills Beaver Creek Senior Kenadie Fick pumped in 15 first-half points to lead the Patriots to the halftime lead. Another positive sign for the Rebels is how they finished the first half. After allowing the Patriots 6 straight points MCC responded with a four to nothing run before halftime to make the score 28 to 20.
The Rebels have struggled in most second halves this season as teams make adjustments and focus on taking away paint touches and that was the case on Monday. That said the Rebels did a better job of handling the initial rush to begin the half and actually cut the deficit down to three points just a couple of minutes into the second half but that run by the Rebels wouldn’t last long enough. The Patriots would extend their lead as the entire roster started to get involved on the offensive end and the three point shots began to foul. The Rebels turnovers limited the shots the Rebels were getting while forcing MCC to play a lot of defense. By the time the clock hit five minutes to go the game was well in hand for the Patriots as they would pull away for a 64 to 37 win.
MCC was led by Abby Overman and Emily Rohrer who both scored 11 points. Mary Lou McNab chipped in with six points. Kenadie Fick scored a game high 23 points but nine other Patriots would score. The Rebels only had six player score total. The Rebels finished with 32 turnovers and while they forced 19 it wasn’t nearly enough with the Patriots shooting like they were. MCC would play Tuesday at home against TMB for their second game of the week.
