Rebels top Dubois for first win

The Riverside Rebels stormed back from an early 20-6 deficit, outscoring Dubois in the second, third and fourth quarters to notch their first win of the season. The cherry on top was that the 60-50 breakthrough came on Senior Night, as the team honored Andrew Garcia, Brendan Powell, Paul Stone, and Mason Brown.

“All of the losses this season have been weighing on the team, more and more with each passing week” Coach Scott Winters said. “We’ve dealt with a lot of injuries and illnesses throughout the season that haven’t helped.

“Despite this, the guys have continued to show up and work hard, in practice and in games. They never quit so it was great to finally see them be rewarded for all their hard work and see how great they can be when they play together as a team.”

Brendan Powell made it happen for the Rebels, finishing with team-highs in points with 22 and rebounds with 11.  Winters also credited Xander Dannar and Mason Brown for playing some of their best ball of the season; Dannar was credited with 10 points, Brown seven.

“Even though some of the guys didn’t shoot well or do some of the things that show up in the stat sheet, they all contributed and played great team defense and I was very proud of how we played as a team and kept pushing throughout the game,” Winters said.

The win helped the Rebels salvage a weekend that did not begin on a positive note.  In a Friday night matchup with Meeteetse, the Rebels were overwhelmed early, trailed by 25 after one and by 38 at the half before going down 74-28.

“Their top player had 15 points against us in the first quarter and we weren’t able to slow him down or get the stops that we needed. We weren’t able to run our offense very well on the opposite end,” Winters said. “I felt like we got into a rush because they were putting up so many points we felt like we had to play faster than we should and forced some shots. 

“We were able to have a better third quarter and work the offense better to get some open looks, but the outcome of the game was already decided by that point. Even though we got down big and the point gap got bigger and bigger I felt like we still had guys competing hard and that’s all I can ask for as a coach.”

Meeteetse 29 18 17 10 — 74

Riverside   4   5 12   7 — 28

RIVERSIDE — Brendan Powell 4 0-0 9, Kenneth McClure 2 0-1 5, Paul Stone 2 0-0 4, Gavyn Cervantes 2 0-2 5, Eli Jensen 2 0-0 5. Totals 12-of-60 (FGs) 0-of-3 (FTs) 28.

3-POINT GOALS — Powell, McClure, Cervantes, Jensen.  REBOUNDS — Riverside 31 (Jensen, Cervantes, Stone 3).  STEALS — Riverside 4 (Powell 2). ASSISTS — Riverside 0. TURNOVERS — Riverside 15.

Dubois 20 11   8 11 — 50

Riverside   6 26 13 15 — 60

RIVERSIDE — Powell 7 4-10 22, McClure 2 3-6 7, Stone 3 1-2 7, Jaxon Womack 0 0-2 0, Cervantes 2 1-2 5, Xander Dannar 5 0-0 10, Jensen 0 2-6 2, Mason Brown 3 1-2 7. Totals 22-of-77 (FGs) 12-of-30 (FTs) 60.

3-POINT GOALS — Powell 4.  REBOUNDS — Riverside 52 (Powell 11, McClure 9).  STEALS — Riverside 17 (Powell, McClure 4).  ASSISTS — Riverside 10 (Cervantes 3).  TURNOVERS — Riverside 16.