USC downs JWP and Blooming Prairie
Team has won seven out of their last eight games, improves to 12-6
In a game that saw several runs by both teams, the United South Central Rebels used a strong first half to gain a big win over the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Bulldogs.
The Rebels held a commanding 36-17 lead at the half time buzzer, and were outscored 32-26 in the second half, making the final score 62-49 for the Rebels.
USC took an early 14-2 lead, but JWP came back with an 8-0 run to make it 14-10. But the Rebels countered with a 17-0 run of their own to get a 31-10 lead with just over four minutes to play in the first half.
“Johnny Martinez and Nick Bushlack were amazing in this game and in the first half they combined to score 23 of our 36 first half points,” coach Adam Walker said. “Taybor Conley added six of his own including a great bucket off a putback.”
The second half started out slowly for both teams, coach Walker said.
“We called a timeout four minutes in when the score was 36-20 and it felt like both teams couldn’t get much going,” the Rebels mentor said. “JWP would start to cause some turnovers and knock down some shots to get back in the game and cut the lead to 10 at 38-28 to start the second half.”
The Rebels started to crank up the defense and get some hot shooting as well.
“It seemed like every time JWP made a run, Zale Bushlack, Nick Bushlack or Johnny Martinez would come up huge with a big shot on the other end,” Walker said.
Nick Bushlack led the Rebels with 22 points and Johnny Martinez was right behind with 20. Zale Bushlack also hit double figures with 12 points, Taybor Conley had six and Blake Bullerman two.
Bullerman also led the team with rebounds, grabbing 13. Zale Bushlack had 11 rebounds to go with his 12 points for another double-double.
As a team the Rebels were 21 of 48 for shots from the floor (44 percent). They made 14 of 33 2-point shots (42 percent) and 7 of 15 3-pointers (47 percent). They also were 13 of 31 for 42 percent from the free-throw line.
The Bulldogs were 20 of 57 from the floor, with 13 of 33 for 2-pointers (39 percent), 7 of 24 for 3-pointers (29 percent) and 2 of 9 from the charity line (22 percent).
USC grabbed 37 rebounds to JWP’s 31, had 15 assists to their 10, 10 steals to their six, eight blocks to their two, and just 10 turnovers to their 15.
“With a huge crowd due to the girls playing prior to our game, and a great following from USC, the guys really stepped up with confidence tonight,” coach Walker said. “We knew it would be a huge task to go over there and get a win, but the way we handled them in the first half and the way we fought them off in the second, was such an amazing thing to see. This team has no fear and that’s important as we hit the home stretch of the regular season.”
The victory over JWP improved USC’s overall record to 12-6 for the season.
Next up for the Rebels was a game on Friday, Feb. 3 at Faribault BA and on Saturday, Feb. 4, against Lewiston Altura at the Kasson Mantorville Showcase at 2 p.m., a game recently added to the schedule.
This week the Rebels will play on Tuesday, Feb. 7, against Maple River at home. USC will go on the road on Friday, Feb. 10, to take on the Dover-Eyota Eagles. The game will be played in Eyota
USC 66, Blooming Prairie 43
The United South Central Rebels took a 32-19 lead into the locker room at halftime, and then scored 34 points in the second half to defeat the Blooming Prairie Blossoms 66-43 on Thursday, Jan. 26.
The Rebels took an early 16-7 lead about four minutes into the game and were mostly in control from that point on.
“Zale Bushlack opened the night with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to jump start his 13 point first half performance,” coach Adam Walker said. “Taybor Conley made a great move on the baseline for a layup to put us up 29-17. Shortly after, Nick Bushlack buried a 3-pointer off a nice double screen to put us up 15.”
In the second half the Rebels jumped off with an 8-0 run, and the game went back and forth from there.
“The lowest our lead got to was to 18 twice,” the USC coach said. “Each time the lead fell to 18, we seemed to either knock down a three or get a bucket and a foul.”
Zale Bushlack ended up with 28 points and had a double-double by also grabbing 11 rebounds.
Nick Bushlack scored 13 points, while Johnny Martinez had nine points. Jorge Martinez and Taybor Conley each had five.
Despite the big win, the coach had a few concerns.
“After playing so well over the last few weeks, we didn’t seem to have a lot of energy right away and Blooming Prairie took advantage of that, scoring on a lot of offensive rebounds and drives,” he explained. “Our team will always be happy up 13 at the half, but it didn’t feel like we played very well, or as well as we’re capable of playing. We struggled to execute defensively, especially in the last few minutes of the first half and we missed a lot of bunnies inside. We also went 3-9 from the line in the first half, so the players, as well as the coaches, felt that we left a lot of points off the board.”
Things changed for the second half, however, and Walker says the team played better and cruised to the 66-43 victory.
As a team the Rebels were 24 of 56 shooting from the floor (43 percent), with 17 of 36 from inside the arc (47 percent) and 7 of 20 for 3-pointers (35 percent). They were 11 of 22 from the free-throw line (50 percent).
The Blossoms were 13 of 37 for 2-pointers (35 percent) and 5 of 15 for 3-pointers (33 percent). They made 2 of 4 free throws.
USC had 31 rebounds to 34 for Blooming Prairie, 16 assists to their nine, 16 steals to their four and 10 turnovers to their 23.