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Feb. 3—SLAYTON — Murray County Central needed to hold off a furious Adrian/Ellsworth rally late, but still led wire to wire in its 69-65 win Monday night.
The Rebels featured a balanced offense focused on attacking a smothering Dragons defense with ball movement, along with an at times suffocating press defense that led to turnovers and points on the fast break.
Those factors helped them build a double-digit halftime lead. Then, when it came time to hold the Dragons off in the second half, the Rebels' senior leadership was on full display.
"Just really proud of our girls' fight," said Rebels head coach Lucas Freeman. "We've lost some games at the end, and it was nice to see us finish one and just play a really consistent basketball game."
Leading that charge was senior guard Ava Deacon, who scored a team high 25 points and snagged six steals, part of a team total of 22. Deacon's role in the win proved vital in both halves. She scored 13 in the first half as the Rebels built their 37-25 lead and then made big shots in the second half to seal the win.
She wasted no time in helping MCC start hot. The Rebels took a 15-6 lead right away thanks to eight points from the point guard, which included a 3-point play and ensuing triple.
But Adrian/Ellsworth battled back midway through the half largely because of superstar senior Shandra Cuperus. She scored five in a row to help her team cut its deficit to 17-15.
The Rebels had the final answer for the rest of the half as a 3-point play from Calleigh Doeden re-established their lead at 30-19 at around the seven-minute mark.
MCC's solid defense helped maintain its advantage with a 12-point lead through a half of play.
"We shot the ball well again, which was good to see," Freeman said. "And I thought our ball movement was good. A lot of times, we had all five players touch it, which is something that we talked about in the pre-game. ...and then we kind of went stagnant a little bit there. And then I thought we finished the half really strong, and we're able to keep pressure on them to keep scoring, because we know that they're a really good offensive team too."
The Dragons' valiant comeback effort started early in the second half with Cuperus leading the charge offensively. Their defense also increased the pressure and got strings of stops as the Rebel offense went stagnant at times.
10 Cuperus points in the first few minutes of the half cut the Rebel lead to five at a MCC timeout. A later pair of Deacon free throws put the Rebels back up eight. The Dragons got to within three of the lead a couple of times, including at the 8:06 mark with the score 52-49.
That was the closest they got for the rest of the game as MCC went back ahead by eight with under four minutes to go.
"I think just composure and taking the plays that were there," Freeman said. "We didn't want to force anything, but we didn't want to lose our aggressiveness either. Sometimes you get a big lead, you start to play more passive, and that's just not our style, so we kind of just had to mix and match that a little bit."
A clutch triple from junior forward Kat Miller put the Rebels ahead 62-51 with around 3:30 to play. Adrian/Ellsworth had one last push to steal the game down 64-55 with just under two to play.
Triples from Cuperus and Kamry Lehnhoff cut the Dragon lead to one possession at 65-62, but time was winding down and MCC avoided costly turnovers on inbound passes and made it to the foul line.
Deacon was fouled with three seconds left with the Rebels ahead by two. She sank both free throws to put the game away.
Other leading scorers for MCC (10-9, 7-7 Red Rock) were sophomore Reese Gilbertson with 14 points and Joelle Hellewell with 10 off the bench. Calleigh Doeden added eight and Miller and Kate Blenkenship five each.
Cuperus, usually difficult to stop offensively, dazzled with 35 points, 17 rebounds and four steals. Lehnhoff added 15 points, Kayona Klingenberg six and Ava Brown five.
The Dragons (13-9) suffered only their second loss in the last 13 games after a 2-7 start. The loss also snapped a four-game win streak. With the end of the regular season drawing closer, they have four games left, three of which are at home.
Up next is 13-8 Westbrook-Walnut Grove Friday in a boys/girls doubleheader.
For Freeman's Rebels, the win extends their streak to three in a row after a stretch of six losses in the last seven contests. It also avenged a 63-54 loss to the Dragons on Jan. 8.
They look to be potentially peaking at a good time in February with section playoffs around the corner. They also have four remaining games, starting with 11-8 Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey on Friday.
"I think we're just focused right now on us and just trying to play the best basketball we can," Freeman said. "We've done that the last week here, which is good to see, and something you want to see once you get to February, but just one game at a time."
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The Rebels featured a balanced offense focused on attacking a smothering Dragons defense with ball movement, along with an at times suffocating press defense that led to turnovers and points on the fast break.
Those factors helped them build a double-digit halftime lead. Then, when it came time to hold the Dragons off in the second half, the Rebels' senior leadership was on full display.
"Just really proud of our girls' fight," said Rebels head coach Lucas Freeman. "We've lost some games at the end, and it was nice to see us finish one and just play a really consistent basketball game."
Leading that charge was senior guard Ava Deacon, who scored a team high 25 points and snagged six steals, part of a team total of 22. Deacon's role in the win proved vital in both halves. She scored 13 in the first half as the Rebels built their 37-25 lead and then made big shots in the second half to seal the win.
She wasted no time in helping MCC start hot. The Rebels took a 15-6 lead right away thanks to eight points from the point guard, which included a 3-point play and ensuing triple.
But Adrian/Ellsworth battled back midway through the half largely because of superstar senior Shandra Cuperus. She scored five in a row to help her team cut its deficit to 17-15.
The Rebels had the final answer for the rest of the half as a 3-point play from Calleigh Doeden re-established their lead at 30-19 at around the seven-minute mark.
MCC's solid defense helped maintain its advantage with a 12-point lead through a half of play.
"We shot the ball well again, which was good to see," Freeman said. "And I thought our ball movement was good. A lot of times, we had all five players touch it, which is something that we talked about in the pre-game. ...and then we kind of went stagnant a little bit there. And then I thought we finished the half really strong, and we're able to keep pressure on them to keep scoring, because we know that they're a really good offensive team too."
The Dragons' valiant comeback effort started early in the second half with Cuperus leading the charge offensively. Their defense also increased the pressure and got strings of stops as the Rebel offense went stagnant at times.
10 Cuperus points in the first few minutes of the half cut the Rebel lead to five at a MCC timeout. A later pair of Deacon free throws put the Rebels back up eight. The Dragons got to within three of the lead a couple of times, including at the 8:06 mark with the score 52-49.
That was the closest they got for the rest of the game as MCC went back ahead by eight with under four minutes to go.
"I think just composure and taking the plays that were there," Freeman said. "We didn't want to force anything, but we didn't want to lose our aggressiveness either. Sometimes you get a big lead, you start to play more passive, and that's just not our style, so we kind of just had to mix and match that a little bit."
A clutch triple from junior forward Kat Miller put the Rebels ahead 62-51 with around 3:30 to play. Adrian/Ellsworth had one last push to steal the game down 64-55 with just under two to play.
Triples from Cuperus and Kamry Lehnhoff cut the Dragon lead to one possession at 65-62, but time was winding down and MCC avoided costly turnovers on inbound passes and made it to the foul line.
Deacon was fouled with three seconds left with the Rebels ahead by two. She sank both free throws to put the game away.
Other leading scorers for MCC (10-9, 7-7 Red Rock) were sophomore Reese Gilbertson with 14 points and Joelle Hellewell with 10 off the bench. Calleigh Doeden added eight and Miller and Kate Blenkenship five each.
Cuperus, usually difficult to stop offensively, dazzled with 35 points, 17 rebounds and four steals. Lehnhoff added 15 points, Kayona Klingenberg six and Ava Brown five.
The Dragons (13-9) suffered only their second loss in the last 13 games after a 2-7 start. The loss also snapped a four-game win streak. With the end of the regular season drawing closer, they have four games left, three of which are at home.
Up next is 13-8 Westbrook-Walnut Grove Friday in a boys/girls doubleheader.
For Freeman's Rebels, the win extends their streak to three in a row after a stretch of six losses in the last seven contests. It also avenged a 63-54 loss to the Dragons on Jan. 8.
They look to be potentially peaking at a good time in February with section playoffs around the corner. They also have four remaining games, starting with 11-8 Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey on Friday.
"I think we're just focused right now on us and just trying to play the best basketball we can," Freeman said. "We've done that the last week here, which is good to see, and something you want to see once you get to February, but just one game at a time."
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