United South Central Rebel guard Nick Bushlack (2) drives to the basket against the Hayfield Vikings. USC lost to No. 4-ranked Hayfield 57-55 on Jan. 23.

After losing a hard-fought game by two points to the No. 4-ranked Hayfield Vikings the previous night, the United South Central Rebels returned to the hardcourt in Wells on Jan. 24, to play host to the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers.

“Coming off an emotional loss the night before, we (coaches) were a little worried about how this game might go,” coach Adam Walker commented.

Although his team got off to a sluggish start, they caught fire and defeated WEM 73-39.

“It was another great performance by our backcourt duo of Johnny Martinez and Nick Bushlack,” Walker said. “Johnny scored 11 of his 13 points in the opening half and Nick set the tone early with a 3-pointer, a drive to the bucket which led to a traditional 3-point play and a steal and layup for eight of his 14 points.”

USC took a 41-20 lead into the intermission and was able to push their lead up to 35 with nine minutes left which meant the running clock rule was implemented.

“We needed a game like this,” Walker added. “It allowed us to get our subs in for most of the second half.”

The Rebels had a balanced scoring attack led by Nick Bushlack with 14 points. Johnny Martinez tallied 13 and Jorge Martinez had 12. Taybor Conley and Zale Bushlack just missed scoring in double figures with nine points each.

The win improved USC’s overall record to 10-6 and 7-3 in the Gopher Conference.

USC was host to Blooming Prairie on Thursday, Jan. 26. They travel to Janesville on Tuesday, Jan. 31, to take on the JWP Bulldogs.

Hayfield 57, USC 55

The No. 4-ranked Hayfield Vikings escaped with a 57-55 victory when they came to Wells to take on the United South Central Rebels on Jan. 23.

Trailing 27-18 at the half, the Rebels saw the Vikings extend their lead to 40-27 before the home team began to fight back.

“Johnny (Martinez) and Nick (Bushlack) provided sparks in the backcourt with steals and a pair of 3-pointers,” USC coach Adam Walker said. “Taybor (Conley) added a couple more buckets and suddenly Hayfield’s lead was down to three points with just over two minutes to play.”

A steal by Martinez and subsequent layup on a spectacular spin move cut the Vikings’ lead to one point and caused the visitors to call a timeout.

Hayfield’s Isaac Matti was fouled while making a layup and he made the free throw to extend the Vikings’ lead back to four points.

Following a USC turnover, Hayfield made another layup to go up by six points with 20 seconds remaining in the game.

Zale Bushlack knocked down a trey to cut the Vikings’ lead to three points. The Rebels were forced to foul and Hayfield converted both of their free throws to go up by five points.

Bushlack hit another 3-pointer with two seconds left and the Vikings let the clock run out for the two-point win.

Martinez led the Rebels with 22 points, followed by Zale Bushlack with 15 and Nick Bushlack with seven.

“It’s hard to take positives in a loss, and we are tired of the “moral victory” talk,” Walker said. “However, this game will only help us come tournament time. As heartbreaking as it was, again I am so proud of the effort this team puts in every night, no matter the competition.”

USC 61, Triton 58

The United South Central Rebels won another tough conference game when they downed the Triton Cobras 61-58 on Friday night, Jan. 20.

The Rebels got off to a fast start, 18-3, on their way to a 37-26 lead at half time. But the Cobras out-scored the Rebels 32-24 in the second half to make the game really close, and the final a three point margin, 61-58.

“We started out jumping ahead 18-3 behind Jorge Martinez’ three first half 3-pointers,” coach Adam Walker said. “Jorge finished the first half with 13 points. Zale Bushlack was once again tough to stop inside as he made six buckets inside to get 13 of his game high 21 points in the first half.”

The Rebels’ early lead was threatened after the first four minutes of the game as Triton started to make some shots and create some turnovers, but USC still took an 11-point lead into the break.

The second half went back and forth with both teams fighting for every shot and playing great defense. As the game wore down, Triton pulled within three, and then one, point with just under 40 seconds left.

“Nick Bushlack made two big free throws to get our lead back to three and after a loose ball went out of bounds under the basket, Triton had two seconds left to get up a shot,” coach Walker said. “They threw the inbound pass from under their own hoop and missed a deep three as the horn sounded. The Rebels escaped with another great conference road win and their fourth in a row.”

Besides Zale Bushlack’s 21 points, Jorge Martinez had 15, Nick Bushlack 14 and Johnny Martinez nine.

Both teams shot 51 times from the floor, but the Rebels sank 24 of their shots (47 percent) while the Cobras made 19 of theirs (37 percent).

USC made 20 of 37 2-pointers and 4 of 14 from beyond the arc, and Triton was 11 of 30 for 2-pointers and 8 of 21 for 3-pointers. But it was at the free-throw line that the Cobras were hot, making 12 of their 14 attempts from the line, while the Rebels were 9 of 16.

Triton also outrebounded USC 31 to 27. But USC had 17 assists to the Tritons’ 12, 13 steals to their 10 and only 17 turnovers to their 22.

“We are playing with a lot of confidence right now and that will be so important with three home conference games this week,” coach Walker said. “Including No. 4 state-ranked Hayfield on Monday, who has won the state title two years in a row.”