Blake Bullerman of the Rebels leaps high into the air to lay the ball in the hoop against Nicollet on Tuesday night, Feb. 20. Look for a story on that game in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.

The United South Central boys’ basketball team ran into a very tough Waseca Bluejays team on Monday, Feb. 12, and the Rebels lost by a score of 74-55.

“We hung with them on the road until the last five minutes or so when Waseca pulled away with the 19-point victory,” coach Adam Walker said. “Jon Stanke again was phenomenal and we were able to stay in the game due to some great shooting from Aiden Crabtree and Zayden Schott.”

The Bluejays led by 12 at the half but the Rebels would cut that lead to eight with nine minutes left in the game.

“We squandered four different opportunities to cut that lead down even more but couldn’t knock down a couple shots and turned it over on two separate possessions, as well,” the coach explained. “Waseca pulled away late for the win but I was very proud and happy with the effort we gave against such a strong team and if we can play like that come playoff time, we will be a very tough team to beat in our subsection.”

Stanke led the team in scoring with 23 points and Blake Bullerman added nine, as well as grabbing seven rebounds. Schott had seven points and Crabtree had six.

The Rebels were 11 of 22 shooting 2-pointers (50 percent), 7 of 17 for 3-pointers (41 percent) and 12 of 19 for free throws. The Bluejays were 24 of 42 for 2-pointers (57 percent), 7 of 13 for 3-pointers (54 percent) and 5 of 11 (45 percent) for free throws.

The Bluejays out-rebounded the Rebels 24 to 18 and had 24 assists to the Rebels’ nine. USC had nine steals to Waseca’s 12, two blocks to their one and 19 turnovers to their 12.

Next up for the Rebels was a game on Feb. 20 against Nicollet which was Senior Night. On Friday, Feb. 23, the Rebels will play their last regular season game against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton.

WEM 57, USC 47

The United South Central Rebels boys’ basketball team could not overcome a rough shooting night and dropped a home conference loss to the visiting Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers by a score of 57-47 on Friday, Feb. 9.

Jon Stanke was 21 points shy of 1,000, and would score 19 of the Rebels’ 21 points in the first half. Zayden Schott was the only other Rebel in the scoring column in the first half with a transition layup.

“Jon was spectacular, leading the Rebels to get within five at the half after being down 25-10 with just under six minutes left,” Rebels’ coach Adam Walker said. “Jon would get his 1,000th point on the first possession of the second half with a 2-and-1 on a cutting basket and with the free throw. That cut the lead down to two after a very rough start to the game.

The Rebels were never able to get over the hump however, as the game went back and forth for the rest of the half and WEM knocked down some free throws late to seal the win.

Stanke ended the game with 34 points. Blake Bullerman had nine points.

“Congratulations go out to Jon for getting that milestone,” the coach said. “He has worked very hard to become the player he is today and I am very proud of him for this accomplishment.”

As a team the Rebels shot 16 of 36 (44 percent) inside the arc, 2 of 24 (8 percent) from outside the arc and 9 of 13 (69 percent) from the free-throw line. The Buccaneers were 12 of 27 (44 percent) for 2-pointers, 8 of 21 (38 percent) for 3-pointers and 9 of 12 (75 percent) for free throws.

The Rebels had 29 rebounds to the Bucs’ 32, nine assists to their 14, 12 steals to their seven, two blocks to their six and 17 turnovers to their 20.

Kenyon-Wanamingo 63,

USC 57

The United South Central Rebels had a tough night on the road in Kenyon taking on the Kenyon-Wanamingo Knights on Thursday, Feb. 8. The Rebels outscored the Knights 36-30 in the second half, but it was not enough as they lost 63-57.

“This was a rescheduled game from January and they had also scheduled a wrestling meet at home that night so we had to play in their secondary gym,” coach Adam Walker said. “Right from the start we were not ready to play.”

Kenyon jumped out to a 12-point lead at the half and led by as many as 19 in the second half, before Jon Stanke led an amazing charge in the last five minutes, the coach said.

“Jon’s game leading 29 points weren’t quite enough as we just ran out of time at the end,” coach Walker added.

Besides Stanke’s 29, Blake Bullerman had eight points, Aiden Crabtree and Nathan Mutschler each added six.

The Rebels were 14 of 30 for 2-pointers (47 percent), 8 of 29 for 3-pointers (28 percent) and 5 of 12 for free throws (42 percent).

The Knights were 22 of 37 (59 percent) for 2-pointers, 5 of 12 (42 percent) for 3-pointers and 4 of 10 (40 percent) for free throws.

USC had 29 rebounds to K-W’s 32, 10 assists to their 21, 13 steals to their eight, one block to their three and 13 turnovers to their 20.