Rebels Knock Off Mora, Advance To Semi-Finals

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

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Mar 12

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

DULUTH- Things started a little slowly for Moose Lake-Willow River on Saturday afternoon as the Mora Mustangs jumped out to an early first half lead, but then senior center Cody Nystadt picked up his second foul of the game. The Rebels capitalized and went on a first half run to lead by eight points at halftime and then sail with the 65-52 win at UMD.

The Mustangs started early, pounding the ball down low to their 6’-7” senior center which led to Nystadt scoring 13 points in the first nine minutes of the game. Nystadt’s play inside also got the Rebels in foul trouble as junior forward Taylor Mattison had to spend time on the Rebels bench with two fouls and later in the half, his third foul before it was halftime.

When Nystadt went to the Mora bench it was Jake Disterhaupt who ignited a first half comeback that would give the Rebels a lead they never would relinquish. Disterhaupt connected on three baskets for the Rebels and sparked the rally for the Rebels. Ryan Adamczak nailed two big 3-pointers in the first half as the Rebels went into the locker room at half with the 32-24 lead.

The second half saw the Rebels come out and hit two big shots to extend their lead to 13 points when Adam Johnsen drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. With Trevor Nummela driving to the basket and either connecting or dishing out for a jump shot from Caleb Koecher it was a true team win on Saturday.

“We worked so hard on defense,” Head Coach Neil Dickinson told Northland Sports Online. “The kids know that defense is what’s going to get us to the next game, and we did that today.” Dickinson added “Adamczak had their point guard and shut him down and the rest of the kids picked it up all game long.”

The Rebels built their lead in the second half up to as many as 25 points late in the second stanza. The Mustangs made a late surge, but it was never a factor as the game had well been decided. Rebel senior Ryan Adamczak stated “I love playing defense, it’s a thing I love to do and coach has the confidence in me, that’s my job.”

Adamczak’s main job may have been defense for Moose Lake-Willow River, but Saturday with several players in foul trouble it was Adamczak stepping up offensively as he recorded a triple double, he finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in the 13 point victory Saturday afternoon.

The rest of the Rebels scoring included Caleb Koecher finishing with 13 points, Trevor Nummela added 11, Jake Disterhaupt closed with 8 points, Taylor Mattison and Adam Johnsen each chipped in with 6 and Nick Tokar closed the scoring with 2 points on the afternoon. Cody Nystadt led Mora with 16 points on the night.

The Rebels improve to 26-2 on the season and they advance to the section semi-finals on Thursday night at UMD when they will face the International Falls Broncos at 6:00 pm. The Broncos defeated the Deer River Warriors Saturday 72-65 in the first game of the afternoon session at Romano Gymnasium.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com