USC’s Jayden Barnick goes up for a rebound in the Rebels’ 68-65 overtime victory over the ML/GHEC/T Jaguars on Feb. 10.

The United South Central boys basketball team wrapped up the regular portion of their season with a game at St. Clair against the Cyclones on Monday, Feb. 24. The game was close during the opening 11 minutes but the Cyclones eventually pulled away for a 75-56 victory.

St. Clair held a 14-10 lead during the first half before drives by USC’s Zayden Schott and Jayden Barnick resulted in two baskets and a 14-14 tie with seven and a half minutes to go in the first half.

Things did not go well for the Rebels after that. The Cyclones went on a 9-0 run to take a 23-14 lead before another basket by Barnick brought USC within seven points of St. Clair at 23-16 with just over five minutes remaining in the opening stanza.

The Rebels scored only five more points before intermission while the Cyclones tallied 17 points including a 3-pointer right before the buzzer sounded to send the teams to their locker rooms for the intermission with St. Clair on top 40-21.

The closing 18 minutes saw the Cyclones keep control of the game and the Rebels were unable to mount a threat.

“This was a makeup game from a week ago and it turned out to be a very physical battle all night,” USC head coach Adam Walker said after the game. “St. Clair went on a late run to end the first half with a 40-21 lead and their athleticism proved too much for us and they held their double-digit lead en route to their 75-56 win.”

USC was 13-for-25 (52 percent) shooting from inside the arc and 4-for-19 (21 percent) from outside the arc. The Rebels attempted 33 free throws and made 18 (55 percent).

St. Clair made 22 of their 46 (48 percent) 2-point attempts and nine of their 25 (36 percent) 3-point attempts. The Cyclones shot 50 percent from the charity stripe where they made four of their eight attempts.

Leading scorer for USC was Barnick with 15 followed by Brody Steinhauer with 11. Dylan Bonsack tallied eight points while Schott and Dylan Stephens each finished with three.

USC began play in the Section 2A playoffs on Friday, Feb. 28. The No. 16-seeded Rebels hosted the No. 17-seeded Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop at the USC gymnasium. The winner of that game will face No. 1-seeded Springfield on Tuesday, March 4.

JWP 75, USC 41

The United South Central Rebels boys basketball team played host to the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Bulldogs on Friday, Feb. 21.

JWP came into the game with a record of 20 wins and only three losses. By the time the evening was over, the Bulldogs had improved their record to 21-3 with a 75-41 victory over the Rebels.

“We held on for as long as possible, but with about seven minutes left in the first half JWP went on a roll and took a 20-point lead into the half,” Rebels’ mentor Adam Walker commented. “The second half went back and forth for the first eight minutes but we just could not cut into their lead enough.”

Although his team lost the game, Walker was pleased with the support of the USC fans.

“We had a great night for parents’ night,” Walker shared. “The USC basketball family would like to thank all the parents for their continued support of the program.”

The Rebels were 9-for-22 (41 percent) from 2-point range and 5-for-26 (19 percent) from 3-point range. They made eight of their 14 (57 percent) free-throw attempts.

The Bulldogs were 21-for-35 (60 percent) from inside the arc and 9-for-29 (31 percent) from outside the arc. They were 6-for-11 (55 percent) shooting free throws.

Dylan Stephens led USC in scoring with 12 points. He made four of his eight 3-point attempts. Jayden Barnick finished with 10 points and Zayden Schott finished with nine.

Barnick led the team in rebounds with seven and Dylan Bonsack led the Rebels in assists with five.