United South Central eighth grader Ryder Anderson takes the ball to the hoop to score two of his game-high 33 points in the Rebels’ 89-86 overtime victory over Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey on Feb. 27.

The United South Central boys basketball team’s season came to an abrupt end when they lost to the Madelia Blackhawks in the opening round of the Section 2A Tournament.

The No. 15-seeded USC Rebels lost 98 to 50 to the No. 2-seeded Blackhawks on Tuesday, March 3, in Madelia.

USC was outscored 53 to 29 in the first half and 45 to 21 in the second half during the game.

The Rebels did have nine different players score, but only one of the Rebels made double figures. Jayden Barnick scored 14 points.

Landon Beck scored eight points, Mitchell Meyer and Ryder Anderson each had seven points and Rylan Clay scored six points for the Rebels.

Two Blackhawks accounted for 60 of Madelia’s 98 points.

As a team the Rebels were 11-for-21 for 2-pointers (51 percent), 6-for-16 for 3-point attempts (38 percent) and 10-for-17 from the free-throw line (59 percent).

The Blackhawks were 29-for-51 for tries inside the arc (57 percent), 10-for-26 for shots outside the arc (38 percent) and 10-for-13 from the charity stripe (77 percent).

The Rebels had 19 rebounds to the Blackhawks’ 38, 13 assists to their 22, one steal to their 12, 27 turnovers to their eight and both teams had four blocks.

This was the final high school game for three senior Rebels – Brennan Olson, Seth Kayser and Wyatt Sparks.

USC 89, Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey 86

Led by a hot-shooting eighth grader, the United South Central boys basketball team won an overtime thriller in the play-in round of the Section 2A Tournament.

The 89-86 OT victory over Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey propelled the Rebels to the first round where they were to face the No. 2 seeded Madelia Blackhawks on Tuesday, March 3.

The No. 15-seeded Rebels had a real battle on their hands when they played the No. 18-seeded Woverines of Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey on Friday night, Feb. 27, in Wells.

USC had a one-point lead over MLA-C, 29-28, at the end of the first half. Both teams played well in the second half, with the Wolverines scoring one more point than the Rebels, 45-44.

In the overtime, USC outscored MLA-C 16-13 to take the one-point victory.

The Rebels were led by eighth grader Ryder Anderson, who had a phenomenal night scoring 33 points. Anderson was 3-for-4 for his two-point shots, 7-for-10 for his three-point attempts and 6-for-7 for his free throws.

Three other USC players hit double figures. Both Jayden Barnick and Landon Beck had 16 points, while Mitchell Meyer added 10 points.

Barnick had a double-double by also grabbing 10 rebounds. Drew Bullerman also had 10 rebounds and Beck had nine.

As a team the Rebels were 16-for-36 for two-pointers (44 percent), 12-for-24 for three-pointers (50 percent) and 21-for-31 from the charity stripe (68 percent).

The Wolverines were 22 of 37 from inside the arc (59 percent), nine of 34 for outside the arc (26 percent) and 15 of 28 from the free-throw line (54 percent).

The Rebels had 44 rebounds to the Wolverines’ 36, 23 assists to their 14, seven steals to their eight, five blocks to their four and 21 turnovers to their 18. Both teams committed 23 personal fouls.