Rebels Advance To Section Finals

Wes Vork-NSO

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Mar 17

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

UMD- Thursday night the Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels showed why they were the number one seed in the south section of 7AA as the Rebels came out from the opening tip and controlled the game. The Rebels knocked off the International Falls Broncos by a score of 66-48. The win moves the Rebels into the section championship game for the first time since 2005. That 2005 section championship meeting will be a rematch as the Rebels defeated the Bluedevils to advance to the state basketball tournament.

The Rebels opened the game with the first points as Trevor Nummela nailed two free throws. A basket by Trevor Carlson tied the game at 2-2, but that was the last time the Broncos were that close as the Rebels went on a 16-4 run and lead by the same score with 11:05 remaining in the first half. The Broncos, the number two seed made a run late in the first half and cut the score to 24-21 with less than a minute to go in the first half.

Taylor Mattison scored with six seconds remaining and was fouled, his free throw was off the mark but Jake Disterhaupt got the rebound and put the shot in to give the Rebels a seven point 28-21 lead at the break. The halftime lead was nearly a 10 point lead when Adam Johnsen stole the Broncos inbounds pass and fired a shot that rolled off the rim as then horn expired. The Rebels, who regained the momentum in the last minute of the first half, used that to spark themselves as the second half opened.

The second half saw the Rebels dominate the game both offensively and defensively as the Rebels went on a 21-6 run to start the second half, building a commanding 49-27 lead with 7:15 remaining in the game. The Broncos answered for a short time scoring nine straight points to narrow the lead to 13 at 49-36. The Rebels responded right back and scored the next three baskets and distanced themselves from the Broncos and win by 18 at Romano Gymnasium.

Trevor Nummela lead all scorers with 21 points on the night. He was followed by Taylor Mattison with 11, Ryan Adamczak added 10, Caleb Koecher finished with 8, Nick Tokar added 6, Adam Johnsen chipped in with 5, Abe Young added 3, and Jake Disterhaupt finished with 2 points each in the Rebels win. Shawn Fillipack finished with 15 points to lead the Broncos in scoring.

The Rebels move to 27-2 overall, and move on to face Virginia on Saturday night at UMD; game time is 7 pm. The Bluedevils advanced with an 80-67 win over Braham. Cavin Stackpool led the way for Virginia with a huge 32 point night including seven 3-pointers.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com