PROSPERITY, S.C. — The Lady Rebels earned a much needed late season region win to remain in the top four of the region standings. Mid-Carolina(6-11, 3-4 region 3-AA) defeated Fairfield Central(3-11, 0-7 region 3-AA) at home on Thursday, Feb. 5th.
After the winter storm postponed two games, the Lady Rebels returned back to the court after being off for a week. Both teams were rusty in the first half and struggled on the offensive end. Senior guard Brea Boyd had all three of Mid-Carolina’s first quarter points and the Lady Rebels found themselves trailing 8-3 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was much kinder to the home team on the offensive end and they were able to reclaim the lead before halftime. They also were able to hold the Lady Griffins to just five points in the second period. Senior forward Rielly Winder made her presence known on the inside by being much active on the boards and she scored five or nine total points in the second quarter.
Senior guard Logann Brooks also made a huge impact in the second period on the defensive end and she was able to get to the free throw line. She also scored two of her 10 total points in the second quarter and was one of two Rebels to finish the game scoring in double figures.
The home team led 16-13 at halftime and wouldn’t look back in the second half. Both teams struggled offensively again out of the locker room in the second half, but the Lady Rebels would break the nearly two minute scoring drought.
Brooks and Boyd would show their senior leadership and carry the offensive load for their squad in the third quarter. Mid-Carolina would go on a 8-3 run to extend their lead to nine points, 24-15, behind Brooks’ tenacious defense. Her and senior guard Katie Gallman would get two steals each in the quarter that led to four fast break points. Winder would also continue her strong rebounding night by grabbing a huge offensive rebound and put back to keep the pressure on the visitors.
Boyd five more points to her point total in the third quarter and drew a foul in the closing seconds of the third quarter that gave her three free throw attempts and extended Mid-Carolina’s lead. They led 31-23 at the end of the third period.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth between both teams but Boyd would have the final say so to put this game away for the Rebels. She started the quarter off by drilling a long range three-point attempt and then she would go on to score 10 points in the final period. She finished with a game-high of 19 points while adding three steals and a few assists to her game totals.
Mid-Carolina would go on to score 44 points to overcome their slow start after only scoring three total points in the first quarter.
“To be h0nest it was actually touching a basketball. We hadn’t touch a basketball in a week. We played last Thursday, didn’t play last Friday and we were obviously out of school the first three days of this week so we couldn’t practice,” said Rebels’ head coach Gary Wilbanks. “It was honestly just touching a ball again because if you don’t touch a ball for a week then you are going to be rusty and sloppy. We struggled to get in our sets at first but once they got the feel back then they started executing and playing the way we want to play.”
Mid-Carolina will have to enjoy the win for a night and quickly turn around to face Eau Claire on the road on Saturday, Feb. 7th. Tip-off will be at 1:00 p.m. If the Lady Rebels can find a way to win two of there next three games then they could lock up a three seed in the state playoffs and host a home playoffs game.
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