United South Central’s Nick Bushlack (2), above, takes the ball to the hoop in an earlier game this year against the Medford Tigers.

After trailing most of the first half and being down nine at the half, the United South Central Rebels fought back hard and led the way most of the second half in their game against the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers, but they fell just short.

The game, played on Friday, Feb. 25, ended with the Rebels losing 58-54. The score at half-time was 34-25 in favor of NRHEG, but USC only outscored them 29-24 in the second half.

“We ran out of gas around the 3-minute mark,” coach Adam Walker said. “We went on a 21-8 scoring run from the start of the second half to about the 8-minute mark, thanks to some great drives by Nick Bushlack and a big 3-pointer by Colten Quade.”

Quade led the team with 19 points in the game, including going 4 of 6 for 3-pointers. Bushlack had 16 points.

“Holding on to that 4-point lead for what seemed like forever, we just couldn’t convert on three straight possessions on open three-point shots,” coach Walker said. “Legs got tired and shots started falling short as our lead vanished in the last couple minutes. NRHEG grabbed the lead back at the 2-minute mark, after being down for most of the second half. They converted free throws and made some late buckets during their surge to come out on top at home in front of a huge crowd.”

Taybor Conley had six points for the Rebels. Zale Bushlack added five points and led the team with 12 rebounds.

As a team USC was 13 of 32 for 2-pointers (41 percent), 6 of 19 for 3-pointers (32 percent) and 10 of 16 for free throws (63 percent). NRHEG was 18 of 47 for 2-point tries (38 percent), 4 of 12 for 3-point attempts (33 percent) and 10 of 17 for free throws (59 percent).

The Rebels had 32 rebounds and so did the Panthers, and they had 10 assists to the Panthers’ 14, six steals to their six, nine blocks to their two and 14 turnovers to their nine.

“I was once again so proud of our effort on both sides of the floor,” the Rebels’ mentor said. “That team beat us by 29 on our home floor and for our guys to be in a position late to win that game screams at how hard we have been playing and competing. We’re hoping this momentum carries over into the playoffs next week and I have no doubt it will.”

The Rebels started playoffs on Friday, March 4, with a game against Alden-Conger at home. USC is seeded No. 7 in the south sub-section of Section 2A, while Alden-Conger is seeded No. 10 in the 10-team sub-section.

The winner of that game will move on to play No. 2-seeded Mankato Loyola on Tuesday, March 8, in Mankato.