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The B-squad would face off at 8 a.m. Thursday morning against RCW at the Marshall High School to kick off a fun day of basketball in Marshall.
The first half started off a little slow as to be expected, with both teams taking an extra step here or being a step late there, etc. But MCC would find their groove on offense as they played through big man Bryce Hoekman. Hoekman had 10 first half points on his way to a game high 17. Going 8-13 from the field, a 62% clip and accumulating 8 rebounds, Hoekman had an efficient ball game. The Rebels would look to feed Hoekman early and would find open shots and attack gaps out of the inside out ball movement. Carter Lewis and Ross Englekes would score 4 and 6 points respectively in the first half and Owen Gillette would knock down a three and Ben Ahlers 2 to round out the first half scoring. Solid defense and a big first half by Hoekman had the Rebels up 9, 25-16 going into the break.
The second half would bring a stingier defensive effort as the Rebels forced many turnovers and live ball steals. Accumulating 23 steals over the course of the game. Carter Lewis would lead the Rebels with 6, thefts and Wyatt Loosbrock and Hudson Schryvers would each take 3 away. Seven other players would record at least one steal in the game. A solid defensive effort by the entire team. With the defense only giving up 10 second half points, the offense was steady recording 27 second half points. Eight players put their name in the second half scoring column as MCC would roll to a 52-26 win.
Scoring: Bryce Hoekman, 17 Carter Lewis, 9 Ross Englekes, 7 Owen Gillette, 4 Ben Ahlers, 4 Thomas Huso, 4 Hudson Schryvers, 4 Wyatt Loosbrock, 2. Rebound Leaders: Bryce Hoekman, 8 Owen Gillette, 7 Carter Lewis and Ross Englekes each had 5 Assists Leaders: Carter Lewis, Ross Englekes, and Hudson Schryvers each had 2. Steals Leaders: Carter Lewis, 6 Hudson Schryvers, 3 Wyatt Loosbrock, 3 Ross Englekes, Owen Gillette, Ben Ahlers, and Jesse Kline each had 2
The varsity would face off against Renville County West in the R.A. Facility at SMSU at 10 a.m. Thursday Morning. RCW would bring a 1-4 record into the contest, but has been in multiple close games against solid competition. MCC would bring a 4-3 record into the game with both teams looking to get back on track after losses in their previous contests.
Early in the game MCC would have multiple high percentage shots around the basket that wouldn’t fall. Pushing the ball in transition, keeping the defensive off balance and finding open teammates would give the Rebels chance after chance to take control of the game early. Unfortunately the shots wouldn’t fall and MCC would have to rely on defense and outside shots in the first half. Aidan Dierks was a spark off the bench as he would have a team high 8 first half points. Dierks knocked down 2 from deep and knocked in another deuce during the half. Christian Tentinger would hit the other 3-point shot of the first half for the Rebels, as points inside were hard to come by. The Rebels would score 21 first half points, shooting below 30% from the field.
Even with the slow start on offense, the Rebels wouldn’t let RCW run away with the game, holding their opponent to 21 first half points as well. RCW slowed the tempo of the game down and MCC made them work in the half court to earn their baskets. MCC switched from zone to man early in the first half and RCW ran set after set against it with varying degrees of success. Going into the break it was 21-21 and the Rebels were in need of some energy and offense.
The second half didn’t get off to any better of a start as both teams shot poorly from the outside and played solid post defense in the middle. This game was going to come down to defensive stops and free throws. Whichever team could string together the most stops and knock down free throws late would leave Marshall with a win. In a game where a 5-point lead felt like 20, all that would be needed was one run by either side to take control.
RCW would go on the first run pushing the lead to 5 with under 8 minutes to go. In a tight contest like this one, it felt like it could be panic time for the Rebels. Momentum was with RCW and MCC hadn’t shown any signs of consistency scoring to this point. But this would be the exact moment that the tides changed, down by 5, the Rebels switched back to zone, Nate Kleven would tip and steal multiple passes in a row on defense and would work his way to the free throw line on offense. Stopping the clock and stealing points back for the Rebels. Chant Mitchell would get what might have been the biggest rebound of the game off a missed free throw by Kleven and kicked it out to Derek Kluis for a huge 3. An offensive board followed by a shooting pocket pass led to the rhythm three by Kluis who would be heard from again in the latest stages of the game.
Now with under 4 minutes to go, MCC had retaken the lead and on the very next possession Mitchell would get a steal in the press and Tanner Graphenteen would find Mitchell for the 10-foot jump shot. Each team would trade turnovers on the next possessions and MCC would put together their best offensive possession of the game with 2:10 remaining. A 9 pass, 30 second possession that ended with a Chant Mitchell pass from the top of the key to a cutting Derek Kluis and-1 on the block. Kluis would drill the free throw and MCC had the lead and time on their side.
Almost forcing a turnover on the next defensive possession, a RCW player jumped out of bounds and threw the ball off of an MCC defender to retrain possession. Solid defense would follow as Tanner Graphenteen would wall up his man, but Adam Schrupp would take an off balanced leaner that would bounce around the rim and drop. On the ensuing possession Graphenteen would be fouled bringing the ball up the court as the Rebels were in the bonus. The Junior point guard would knock them both down calmly to earn the two points back from the previous possession and put MCC up 4.
RCW would take a contested three on their possession after a couple of passes around the perimeter, the ball rattled in and out, but MCC didn’t box out and Tyler Froland nabbed the offensive rebound and put it back in for an easy 2. With 42 seconds left MCC was up a pair. RCW would put a little pressure on as MCC’s guards brought the ball up the court. It ended up in Derek Kluis’s hands with 30 seconds remaining and the Junior guard would head to the line in the double bonus. He would connect on 1-2 and put the Rebels up three.
MCC would need to get another stop to finally find some breathing room. Up by only three, it’s a one possession game and giving up a three point shot at this moment of the game is not acceptable. RCW would make 8 passes before they would get up a shot attempt, as MCC’s defense was playing tough man to man on the perimeter. An attack and contested runner would not drop and the ball would drop into RCW 6-6 center Jaden Serbus’s hands. That is where Nate Kleven would strike again as he would poke the ball free and it would end up in Kluis’s hands once again. With 1.7 seconds remaining the Rebels would shoot the double bonus, up 3 points. Make one and the game is essentially over, Kluis made both giving him 9 second half points and MCC would battle through a tough ball game and find a way to win, 47-42 bringing their record to 5-3 on the season.
Scoring Leaders: Aidan Dierks, 10 Derek Kluis, 9 Nate Kleven, 8 Tanner Graphenteen, 7 Chant Mitchell, 6 Christian Tentinger, 5 Abe Paulzine, 2. Rebound Leaders: Nate Kleven, 10 Abe Paulzine, 5 Chant Mitchell, 4 Tanner Graphenteen, 4. Steals Leaders: Nate Kleven, 4 Aidan Dierks, 3, Derek Kluis, Tanner Graphenteen, Chant Mitchell, and Christian Tentinger each had 2. Assists Leaders: Tanner Graphenteen, 3 Chant Mitchell, 2.
