By: Joel Herrig
Murray County News Sports
The Rebels returned to Worthington on Thursday night for the semi-final round of tournament action. The Rebels faced off against the Westbrook Walnut Grove Chargers – a familiar foe. The two senior classes have been facing off since elementary school. They are two of the most talented teams in the Red Rock Conference and have played plenty of big games before. This, however, would be the final time these senior basketball members were to meet and have bragging rights forever. The highly competitive game, as everyone anticipated, one stat separated these two teams – free throws. The Chargers nailed 19 of the 26 free throw attempts while the Rebels made it to the line three times. With most the other stats pretty similar the 68-75 deficit MCC suffered seemed to stem from WWG’s opportunity at the charity stripe.
The Rebels and the Chargers split during the regular with the home team winning each game. A close game was expected and the two teams didn’t disappoint. MCC got off to the quick start in this game taking a four-point lead early. The Rebels were able to force a couple of turnovers and able to get four points each from Justin Benda and Mason Woldt.
The Chargers answered back with Nathen Ross leading the way. The junior forward played a terrific game on offense shooting the ball extremely well from inside and out. He scored a game-high 14 points in the first half. His first six points came on a three-point shot from the top of a key and a traditional three-point play in a drive to his right-hand side. The drive was enough to get the Chargers on track. MCC led 12-10 at this point but WWG scored eight straight points giving them an 18-12 lead. They led the rest of the first half by as much as ten points at one point and time in the first half.
MCC wasn’t playing poorly, in fact, the Rebels were shooting the ball well and rebounding right with the Chargers who are the much bigger and longer team. Mason Woldt maybe had the best offensive game of his career. Woldt scored 12 points in the first half and rarely missed a shot to lead the Rebels. The problem for the Rebels was the WWG zone defense did not allow outside shots. Murray County Central has played at their best this season when getting points at all three levels of the offense; from the three-point line, the mid-range area, and the low post. In this game, the Rebels got everything they wanted down low and at the midrange but nothing easy on the perimeter. Both teams shot well in the first half. MCC made 48% from the field while the Chargers connected 54% of their shots. WWG led at the halftime break 37-29.
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