After stealing the ball, USC’s Brennan Olson looks to convert the Rochester STEM turnover into two points for the Rebels in a game played on USC’s home floor on Feb. 17.

The United South Central Rebels used a very strong second half to defeat the Rochester STEM Cobras 72 to 67 in a game on Tuesday, Feb. 17, in Wells.

The Rebels were trailing 34-32 at the end of the first half, but outscored the Cobras 40-33 in the final stanza.

The Cobras, who had only eight players on their roster, had four players hit double figures of at least 13 points each.

Meanwhile the Rebels had eight different players score and three of them hitting double figures.

Jayden Barnick led USC with a big double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds – six on offense and seven on defense.

Ryder Anderson and Rylan Clay each added 11 points to the team’s tally. Brennan Olson, Seth Kayser and Wyatt Sparks each had seven points, Mitchell Meyer six and Landon Beck five.

Kayser and Meyer also had seven rebounds each.

As a team the Rebels were 17-for-45 for two-point shots (38 percent), 9-for-18 for three-point tries (50 percent) and 11-for-16 from the free-throw line (69 percent).

The Cobras were 20-for-45 for inside the arc shots ( 44 percent), 8-for-32 for outside the arc shots (25 percent) and 3-for-4 for free throws (75 percent).

USC had 44 rebounds to Rochester STEM’s 35, 19 assists to their 13, seven steals to their 14, 18 turnovers to their 12 and each team had four blocks.

Next up for the Rebels was a game scheduled for Friday, Feb. 20, when they travel to Janesville to take on the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Bulldogs. Look for a story on that game in the following week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.

Kenyon-Wanamingo 66, USC 61

The United South Central boys basketball team took on the Kenyon-Wanamingo Knights on Saturday, Feb. 14, and the Rebels came up just short of the Knights, 66-61.

USC had the lead by one-point at the end of the first half, 34-33, but got outscored 33-27 in the second stanza.

Both teams had three players in double figures, but USC’s scores were 15, 11, 11, and K-W’s were 27, 16, 10.

It was Jayden Barnick who led the team in scoring with 16, which came on six 2-pointers and three free-throws.

Ryder Anderson and Seth Kayser had 11 points each. Five other Rebels also scored, with Brennan Olson hitting for eight, and Mitchell Meyer tallying seven.

As a team the Rebels were 15-for-32 for 2-pointers (47 percent), 8-for-26 for 3-point tries (31 percent) and 7-for-10 for free throws (70 percent).

The Knights were 20-for-48 for 2-point shooting (42 percent), 5-for-15 for 3-point attempts (33 percent) and 11-for-20 for free-throws (55 percent).

USC out rebounded K-W 35 to 31, had more assists, 17 to 15, and more blocks, eight to none. The Rebels had five steals to their eight and 16 turnovers to their nine.

WEM 80, USC 58

Friday the 13th was not very lucky for the United South Central Rebels, as they lost to the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers by a score of 80 to 58 on Friday, Feb. 13.

The Rebels fell behind 41 to 25 at the end of the first half, but stayed with the Buccaneers in the second half, scoring 33 points to their 39.

Jayden Barnick scored 16 points and Seth Kayser added 12 points to lead the Rebels. A total of 10 USC players scored at least two points with Ryder Anderson getting nine and Landon Beck six.

WEM had two players approaching 30 points each with Cole Bartz hitting for 28 and Talen Taylor scoring 27.

The Rebels were 15 of 22 for 2-pointers (47 percent), eight of 22 for 3-point shots (36 percent) and 4-for-7 from the free-throw line (57 percent).

The Bucs were 24-for-46 from inside the arc (52 percent), 7-for-17 for outside the arc (41 percent) and 11-for-33 from the charity stripe (48 percent).

The Rebels had 18 rebounds to the Bucs’ 44, 18 assists to their 16, eight steals to their 11, six blocks to their three and 21 turnovers to their 19.