The Newell-Fonda Mustangs and the Sioux Central Rebels met in Sioux Rapids with the Mustang girls winning 84-55, and the Rebel boys winning 91-85 in overtime
The girls game saw the Mustangs get out in the opening quarter en route to a wire to wire win. The opening quarter saw the Mustangs jump out to a 10-2 lead that promted a Rebel timeout with 4:20 to go in the first. The teams would go back and forth the rest of the quarter which saw the Mustangs lead 21-14 after one. The second quarter saw the Mustangs use a 5-0 burst over the final 2+ minutes of the quarter to hold the 37-25 lead at the half.
The Rebels would open the second half on a 5-3 run to cut the lead to 40-30. However the Mustangs would begin to pull away with a 17-12 run the rest of the quarter to lead 57-42 after three. The first 3 minutes of the fourth saw the Mustangs storm out to a 14-8 run to force a Rebel time-out with the Mustangs leading 71-50. The Mustangs would close out the game on a 13-5 run en route to the 84-55 victory.
The Mustangs with the win have won 10 in a row and improve to 18-2 overall, the Rebels wrap up their regular season with a record of 15-6. Up next the Mustangs travel to Ridge View on Friday, and the Rebels will play on 2/14 in postseason play hosting Lake Mills or Belmond Klemme
Mustangs were lead in scoring by McKenna Sievers with 19, the Rebels were lead in scoring by Avery Wilson and Morgan Christian with 17 each.
Mustang coach Dick Jungers said, “I was really pleased at how we were able to withstand Sioux Centrals runs. We were able to build a lead with some solid shooting and tenacious defense. The first half we played tight and made some poor choices with the basketball. We did a better job of finding the openings in the defense as the game went on”.
The boys game saw the Rebels rally from 19 points down and win 91-85 in overtime. The first quarter saw the Rebels score the first basket before the Mustangs 20-10 run to lead 20-12 with 1 minute to go in the first. The Rebels got a late 3 pointer to cut the lead to 22-17 after one. The second quarter saw the Mustangs storm out to a 19-5 run in the first 4+ minutes of the second to grab their biggest lead at 41-22. The Rebels would chip into the lead over the final 3:18 of the quarter with a 11-5 run to trail the Mustangs 46-33 at the break.
The third would see the teams trade baskets for the first 4:36 to a Mustang 56-43 lead. The Rebels again were slowly able to chip into the lead over the final 3:19 of the quarter and cut the lead to single digits as the Mustangs lead 63-55 after three. Over the first four minutes of the fourth quarter the Mustangs were able to weather storm. The Rebels got as close as five and the Mustangs lead by as many as eight over that stretch. However, the tide would begin to turn in the final four minutes of regulation. as the Rebels cut the Mustang lead to 72-70 with 2:03 to go. In the final 2:03 there would be six timeouts called between the two teams as well as two lead changes and a tie as the game went to overtime. Both teams had chances to take the lead as the Rebels missed a late free throw and the Mustangs had a three-point attempt blocked. The game was tied at 75 at the end of regulation.
Overtime saw the Rebels take the lead for good, as they tore out of the gate on a 12-2 run over the first three minute of overtime to capture an 87-77 lead.However the Mustangs would slowly chip into the lead by fouling the Rebels and making shots down the stretch but it would be too little too late. The Rebels would go on to win 91-85.
The win improves the Rebels to 20-0, while the Mustangs fall to 14-4. Up next for the Rebels they try to close out a prefect regular season on the road Thursday at Hinton and the Mustangs hit the road Thursday to battle OABCIG.
The Rebels were lead in scoring by the “Wells Ag Supply of Fonda Player of the Game” Jacob Hargens with 53 points (a Sioux Central school record, and 37 points came from the second half), Carter Boettcher added 24, for the Mustangs they were lead in scoring by Carter Sievers with 38points
Hear comments from Rebel Boys Basketball Head Coach Stephen Tjaden (7:53) and Senior Rebel Basketball Player Jacob Hargens (2:33) below
