By: Joel Herrig
Murray County News Sports
The Rebel girls basketball team had two weeks between games due to the snow and cold. Though they had been able to get in the gym for some practices, the team was forced to cancel three games because of the weather and with the upcoming playoffs, the Rebels ran out of dates in which they could make up the games. So on Monday night MCC played one of their last two regular season games of the season. They welcomed the Ellsworth Panthers to Slayton for the second game between the two teams this season.
When the Rebels played the Panthers earlier this season Ellsworth was without one of their top players, Ashlyn Meester. She is back from injury now and provides the Panthers with another good ball handler and shooter.
The first time the two teams played the Rebels took an early lead however didn’t really blow the game open until the second half when MCC pulled away for the 60-31 victory. Monday night the Rebels took an early lead but Ellsworth did a nice job of keeping the game close. MCC led by eight. The Panthers cut the deficit to three and then the Rebels opened the lead going up by nine. Once again the Panthers closed the gap.
Both teams struggled with turnovers which could be credited to some rust with the inconsistent practice and game schedule. MCC finally got some control of the game during the final six minutes of the opening half. They were able to get the ball up the court quickly and score on breakaways created by turnovers. Montana Beckmann and Brianna Schmitz led the way for MCC both passing the basketball well with Schmitz scoring six points while Beckmann led the way with 16. The Rebels defense didn’t allow the Panthers to get consistent good looks. Kallie Chapa is the only Panther to score more than five points in the first half and she managed just 7. The Rebels led at the half 36 to 23.
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