Rebels Hold Off Pesky Bulldogs

Wes Vork-NSO

Click here for the complete game box score

For additional photos click here to view our complete photo gallery

Feb 3, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

CARLTON- On paper it looked as the Carlton Bulldogs were huge underdogs against the Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels Friday night. When the Bulldogs top offensive player fouled out early in the second half, many thought the Rebels would blow away Carlton. But the Bulldogs held strong and battled until the end as the Rebels picked up the conference victory by a score of 62-48.

“This is a tough place to play” Head Moose Lake –Willow River Coach Neil Dickinson told Northland Sports Online. “Whether I was the girl’s coach or the boy’s coach, this is always one place that is hard to play in.” He added “they are a scrappy team, they fought hard tonight, but I’m glad we got the win after the tough loss to Cloquet on Tuesday night.”

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 7-2 lead Friday night; but the Rebels responded right back as Taylor Mattison connected on eight straight points to give the Rebels a lead they would never relinquish. The Rebels used hot shooting from the field to build up a 17 point halftime lead of 42-25. The Rebels shot 58% from the field in the first half.

The second half saw the Rebels jump out to a 22 point lead behind Caleb Koecher, who hit a couple 3-pointers and the Bulldogs were reeling. Two minutes into the second half the Bulldogs Erik Adams picked up his fourth foul and with the Rebels rolling offensively the Carlton coaches decided to leave Adams in the game.

With the Rebels making a run, it was only a minute later that Adams picked up his fifth foul and was done for the night. The Bulldogs didn’t fall over and die Friday as they slowed the pace of the game down and worked the ball offensively to slowly cut into the Rebels lead. Lane Empson and Dekota Frear picked up the scoring for Carlton and although they never got closer than 12 points, the Rebels didn’t seal the victory until the four minute mark of the second half.

“I am very proud of how these kids worked tonight” Head Coach Adam Bailey told Northland Sports Online. “It was by far our best game of the season as a team standpoint.” He stated, “When Erik fouled out we had other kids step up and take on some new roles for our team and that will only make us better in the future.”

The Rebels were led by Caleb Koecher who finished with 15 points, Taylor Mattison added 13, Tony Adamczak finished with 11, Jake Disterhaupt added 8, Mike Pender ended with 4, it was Matt Mach and John Zinter each scoring 3 points, while Nathaniel Koeck and Ike Pederson both added 2, and Ezra Szczyrbak ended with 1 point.

The Bulldogs were led by Erik Adams, who despite missing the final 12 minutes, finished with 17, Lane Empson added 13, Dekota Frear finished with 10, Zack Veno scored 3, Kyle Gunderson and Spencer Walton both had 2, and it was Michael Goranson ending with 1 point.

The Rebels improve to 11-7 overall and they are in action again next Friday night when they will face the Esko Eskomos at Esko High School. Carlton falls to 3-12 and they are back in action Monday night when they will host the Barnum Bombers in a Polar league Conference contest.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com