Taybor Conley leaps high to get above the defense and score two points for the Rebels in their game against Medford.

The United South Central Rebels boys basketball team put together a solid game and defeated the Truman/Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain Jaguars 74-56 on Tuesday night, Feb. 15.

“We finally jumped out to a fast start taking an early 8-0 lead and finished the end of the first half strong as well to take a 28-21 lead at the break,” Rebels coach Adam Walker said. “We dominated the start of the second half going on a 22-6 run to open up a 23 point lead with about 11 minutes to play in the game.”

The Jaguars went on a 19-6 run of their own to cut the lead to 10 with five minutes to play.

“Luke Pederson made a huge 3-point play and we turned a couple turnovers into fast break points to build the lead and stem the tide,” Walker said. “Our lead built back up to 18 points by the end of the game.”

Pederson led the team with 23 points, but there were four players who hit double figures. Colten Quade had 18 points, Zale Bushlack added 12 and Nick Bushlack 10. Zale Bushlack had a double-double with 10 rebounds.

“I was so proud of how well we came out early and how we were able to slow down their run by making play after play down the stretch,” the Rebels coach said. “Colten and Luke made some big shots all night but it really was a full-on team effort.”

As a team the Rebels were 23 of 35 for 2-pointers (66 percent), 3 of 18 for 3-point attempts (17 percent) and 19 of 30 for free throws (63 percent).

The Jaguars were 17 of 33 for 2-pointers, 5 of 21 for 3-pointers and 7 of 13 for free throws.

The Rebels also had 35 rebounds to the Jaguars’ 26, 19 assists to their 14, 22 steals to their 13 and 20 turnovers to their 26.

“This was a huge section win for us when it comes to the standings,” coach Walker added. “Beating them twice this season should certainly lock us in ahead of them come playoff time. I’m so proud of our players’ efforts and the way they all worked together as a team in a big game on the road.”

USC 71, Medford 47

The United South Central Rebels boys basketball team once again got off to a really slow start at the beginning of their game.

This time, however, they came roaring back and downed the Medford Tigers 71-47 on Monday night, Feb. 14.

“Once again we struggled to get off to a fast start, falling behind 9-0,” USC coach Adam Walker said. “It was senior night and we started the game off a little differently, however this has become kind of a regular thing for us for the last month or so.”

The Rebels did manage to fight back and take the lead, and were ahead of the Tigers by a score of 30-23 at the end of the first half.

“The difference last night was our 3-point shooting and ball pressure on defense,” Walker added. “We turned some relentless defensive pressure into points in a hurry to end the half and to start the second half.”

The Rebels had three players in double figures and were led by Zale Bushlack who had a double double of 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Johnny Martinez had 14 points and five rebounds and Luke Pederson had 12 points and five rebounds.

Nick Bushlack had seven points and Colten Quade had six points and eight rebounds.

“Johnny made 3 of 3 first half 3-pointers and Nick and Luke both knocked one down as a 9-0 deficit turned into a 30-23 lead to end the half,” the coach explained.

Defense and ball movement was the story in the second half.

“I thought we defended very well in the half court and when we moved the ball well we got layups and we certainly got them often in the last 10 minutes,” Walker said. “In the last few minutes, Trevor Brekken scored a career high five points and AJ Bullerman made 2 of 2 free throws on a night when the rest of the team went 1-9 from the line.”

As a team the Rebels were 22 of 46 from 2-point range (48 percent), 8 of 24 from 3-point range (33 percent) and 3 of 11 from the free-throw line (27 percent).

The Tigers were 13 of 38 for 2-pointers (34 percent), 5 of 13 for 3-pointers (38 percent) and 6 of 12 for free throws (50 percent).

USC had 48 rebounds to Medford’s 25, 20 assists to their six, nine steals to their six and 11 turnovers to their 14.

“It was very nice to be able to get all the players in, especially on Senior Night, the Rebels coach said. “We had a good crowd and it was a fun game to win. This year’s group of seniors have been not only fun to coach but also a huge help to me in my first year as USC’s head coach. Just want to say thank you to those six players as well as their parents. Also thank you to the two senior managers that will be missed by players and the coaching staff as they worked behind the scenes on setting up cameras, doing stats, and filming games. Their hard work certainly does not go unnoticed.”

Hayfield 81, USC 50

The United South Central Rebels fell behind early and could never get back into the game when they faced the Hayfield Vikings on Friday, Feb. 11.

The Rebels lost the game 81-50, after having trailed 47-20 at the half.

USC did have three players reach double figures. Colten Quade led the team with 20 points, while Zale Bushlack added 12 and Nick Bushlack had 10.

But the Vikings had one player, Isaac Matti, have the game leading point tally with 31 and another, Ethan Pack, hit 23.

“Hayfield jumped on us early and often in the first half. Any time we were able to string together a couple baskets, they answered quickly,” coach Adam Walker said. “We were down 47-20 at half, but I was proud of how we responded in the second.

The Rebels were 21 of 40 for 2-point shots (53 percent, 2 of 13 for 3-pointers (15 percent) and 2 of 5 for free throws (40 percent).

The Vikings were 18 of 32 for 2-pointers (56 percent), 13 of 27 for 3-pointers (48 percent) and 6 of 8 for free throws (75 percent).

The Rebels coach says there was a lot of back and forth throughout the second half.

“We had a chance to cut the lead down to 15 with nine minutes to play but missed open 3-point shots on back-to-back possessions.”

Both teams’ benches were emptied with about three minutes left and Hayfield leading by 24.

The stats were all in favor of Hayfield.

The Rebels had 24 rebounds to the Vikings’ 34, 14 assists to their 23, three steals to their eight, two blocks to their seven and 15 turnovers to their 10.

This week the Rebels travel to Minnesota Valley Lutheran on Monday, Feb. 21, then host Leroy-Ostrander on Tuesday, Feb. 22 and Medford on Friday, Feb. 18.

Maple River 73, USC 42

The United South Central Rebels fell behind early when they faced the Maple River Eagles on Tuesday, Feb. 8, which ended in a 73-42 loss.

The Eagles started out hot as they jumped to an early 18-6 lead, which they built up to a 42-18 advantage at the end of the first half.

“We just couldn’t get anything going offensively and they didn’t seem to miss many shots no matter how well we defended in the half court,” coach Adam Walker noted. “We played a lot better midway through the second half. Colten Quade and Zale Bushlack started to hit some shots and Johnny Martinez and Taybor Conley were very good in transition. Taybor was able to get to the free-throw line a lot and that helped slow things down.”

Zale Bushlack led the team with 12 points, and in rebounds with five.

Conley had eight points, Martinez seven, Quade six and Nick Bushlack five.

Will Sellers led the Eagles with 21 points and Zachary Hermann added 18.

The Eagles attempted nearly twice as many shots from the field as the Rebels. While USC put up 35 tries for 2-pointers and 3-pointers combined, Maple River had 65 shots at the basket.

The Rebels were 13 of 25 (52 percent) for 2-pointers, while the Eagles were 18 of 37 (49 percent). The Rebels were 1 of 10 (10 percent) for 3-pointers while the Eagles were 10 of 28 (36 percent).

USC did take way more shots from the free-throw line, mainly because they only committed 11 fouls, while Maple River was tagged with 18. The Rebels were 13 of 23 from the charity stripe (57 percent) while the Eagles were 7 of 8, (88 percent.)

“Even in a big loss like that, I was happy with the way we fought in the second half,” the Rebel mentor said. “We don’t match up with Maple River very well and they are obviously one of the top teams in Class AA.”