Lady Rebels storms back late to win home opener

PROSPERITY, S.C. — The Lady Rebels opened their 2025-26 regular season at home and picked up a huge comeback win. Mid-Carolina(1-2) defeated Airport(1-1) 42-39 in their home opener on Tuesday, Dec. 2nd.

The Lady Rebels picked up their first win of the season after a rough start to the season. Mid-Carolina participated in a pre-Thanksgiving holiday tournament on their home court from Nov.24-25th. They also had to battle the injury bug in the early parts of the season with star senior guard Brea Boyd, whom missed the entire early season tournament due to a knee sprain.

Neither team could get anything going in the first quarter and had issues with turnovers. The home team Rebels still led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams’ offensive struggles continued in the second quarter, but the Rebels were able to get to the free throw line four times in the quarter which help them hold onto their slim lead. Mid-Carolina led 19-14 at halftime and Boyd scored eight of the team’s total points.

The Lady Eagles made their run in the third quarter, and scored more points in the third quarter than they combined to score in the entire first half. They knocked down three three-pointers and began to find their rhythm. The took the lead late in the third quarter and held onto it.

Mid-Carolina trailed for the first time since the early part of the opening quarter and went into the fourth quarter down 29-25. The Lady Rebels only scored six total points in the third period and had to make a fourth quarter without Boyd. The senior guard left the game late in the third quarter due to severe cramping. She would finish the game with a team-high 11 points.

The scoring really picked up for both squads after the two teams struggled on offense for majority of the game. Mid-Carolina got back-to-back buckets to tie the game at 29-29. Then, Airport goes a small 5-0 run to take a commanding lead and began to look like they were running away with the game.

Head coach Gary Wilbanks called a timeout to give the Rebels time to regroup and not let this game slip away. The timeout was well needed because Mid-Carolina started to make their late game push and eventually took over the game. Forward Rielly Winder scored on back-to-back offensive possessions. Senior guard Logan Brooks began to make her impact felt on defense and got a huge steal that lead to an easy score on the fastbreak.

Both teams exchanged the lead three different times in the fourth quarter and were tied once as well. The final run came from the home team. Katie Gallman took a backseat for much of the night of the quarter, but came through with a clutch bucket late in the game on a jump shot.

Winder took the wind out of Airport after coming down with a strong offensive rebound and layup to give the Rebels a 42-39 lead with on a four seconds left on the clock.

Airport used their final timeout to draw up one last play to potentially tie the game. They had to go the full length of the court and got a good attempt but it was no good.

“We struggled mildly in the second half with execution. There late we started attacking the basket more and started getting on the offensive glass. That was the difference those second chance points. I actually got on them pretty good yesterday at practice about not getting on the offensive glass and they got on it when it mattered the most,” said Wilbanks.

Brooks finished with eight points and had two steals. Winder scored all of her six points in the final quarter and she also had seven rebounds. Jaylnn Gallman had six points and five rebounds. Katie Gallman finished with eight points including two huge buckets late in the fourth quarter. She also took over the point guard duties in the fourth quarter in place of the injured Boyd.

“It is huge and you’re right. Towards the end of the year she[Katie Gallman] was big for us down the stretch. This was the first time Brea has played this season. We played in three tournament games but Brea sprained her knee in one of our scrimmages,” said Wilbanks.

He continued, “This was her first time out, but Katie was the point guard in those three tournament games against really good competition and she was the only one. She had her ups and downs in those but that made her tougher tonight. Sp she was able to step up because she has been in those moments against the Walhalla’s, the defending 3A state champions. She been in those moments already and was huge. She also worked her butt off in the off-season to get better.”

Mid-Carolina will have a few days off before hitting the road on Friday, Dec. 5th to face Ninety Six. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m.