Joel Herrig
Murray County News Sports
The MCC Rebels were coming off their first loss of the season on Thursday night when they traveled to Tracy to take on the TMB Panthers. The non-conference rivalry has produced some hard-fought games over the years and this one was no different. The Panthers were 4-3 compared to the Rebels 5-1 and Thursday game would show how close the game can be played between the two teams. In the end, the Panthers got the close hard fought game.
Trevor Larson made 8 three-point shots on Tuesday and he hadn’t cooled off any before the start of the game on Thursday. The 5’11” junior was knocking them down deep again making four three-point shots in the first half. His hot shooting kept TMB out front most of the opening half. The Rebels were shooting well from deep as well making four in the opening half but no one had more than one in the first 18 minutes. The Panthers always seemed to lead even when the Rebels made a run the Panthers had an answer. Now it was a low scoring first half overall but the Rebels had plenty of good looks they were unable to convert on. Jack Pierson led the way with 7 first-half points but MCC showed some balance with 5 different players scoring at least five points. The Panthers led at the half 30 to 29.
The second half started as poorly as it can for the Rebels as TMB came out of the gates quickly. The Panthers scored the first nine points of the half as the Rebels fell behind by ten points. Jake Tauer led the way with five quick points. MCC proved they have the ability to come back quickly and they did that, led by Spencer Wajer. The Rebel senior scored 12 second-half points; three three-point shots and three free throws. Jack Pierson and Noah Boerboom used their quickness against the bigger Panthers inside to score a combined 11 points. The Rebels went from down ten to up 5 in the second half, but the Panthers were not going to go quietly into the good night. MCC got on a four-minute stretch where the offense bogged down. They threw the ball a couple of times, but more importantly, the Rebels lost rhythm in what they were doing and became very one on one. The Panthers used that to their advantage. Trevor Larson, who struggled for the first fourteen minutes of the second half, got hot when it mattered most. Larson knocked down three three-pointers in the final three minutes allowing the Panthers to regain the lead and though the Rebels had some chances in the final minute they were unable to reclaim the lead. TMB got the win 66 to 63.
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