Rebels win home game after 4th overtime

The Riverside Rebels had two games last week, the first being Thursday at home against the Meeteetse Longhorns.

 “It was one of the most exciting games I have been a part of,” Coach Scott Winters said of the 86-85 win. “We didn’t play as well as we would have liked early on. We missed a lot of easy shots. We forced a lot of turnovers and got the shots that we wanted but we weren’t able to capitalize on the other end.

“I think that after that we got complacent with it being a close game and weren’t ever able to make the run that we needed. We sent them to the free throw line too much and that slowed the game down as well. We didn’t execute down the stretch and they were able to make some tough shots to send it into overtime.”

The Longhorns did have the lead in each of the overtimes but the Rebels were able to come back and keep extending it. The Rebels had three of their starters foul out but the players that came in off the bench were able to continue the pressure. Coach Winters called attention to a couple stand outs. “Brendan Powell and Eli Jensen brought a lot of energy and hustle off the bench and played most of the overtimes and Ryder Kozisek hit some big shots including three free throws with less than a second left to send it into another overtime.” In the fourth overtime the Rebels were able to secure the lead to end the game in their favor 86-85. 

“It was good to be on the winning side of such an emotional game like that and our guys showed a lot of heart by never giving up.” Coach Winters commented.

The Rebels next game was on Friday, when they battled against the Dubois Rams on their home turf and reluctantly accepted a loss. Coach Winters described, “We looked fatigued from the start and I think the extended minutes from the night before and the long drive all played a factor. We had a hard time early on generating offense and making reads. They outscored us 19-9 in the first quarter and that was the difference in the game.”

The rest of the game was back and forth with the Rebels cutting it down to only a four-point lead in the fourth quarter but they were ultimately unable to continue the trend and lost 57-47. Coach Winters said, “Paul Stone had a really strong game offensively and Gavyn Cervantes stepped up for us on both ends of the floor as well. It was a tough game to lose, but we will be focused and ready to go next week.”

The Rebels next game will be a home game on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.

Meeteetse 7 13  7 19 39     – 85

Riverside 9   8  9 20 40     – 86

RIVERSIDE – Hyson Hill 3-8 4-8 11, Kenneth Mcclure 0-0 0-0 0, Brenden Powell 1-6 2-3 4, Matthew Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Paul Stone 1-5 0-0 2, Jon Mendenhall 0-0 0-0 0, Lane Owen 0-0 0-0 0, Gavyn Cervantes 2-9 0-0 4, Avery Clifford 6-11 4-6 16, Wyatt Daly-Patterson 3-7 0-4 6, Ryder Kozisek 12-28 7-10 35, Eli Jensen 3-9 1-1 8, Mason Brown 0-0 0-0 0,  

3 POINT GOALS – 6 (Ryder Kozisek 4), REBOUNDS – Riverside 49 (Brendan Powell 8) STEALS – Riverside 17 (Avery Clifford 5) TURNOVERS – Riverside 29

Dubois 19 10 15 13     – 57

Riverside   9 11 14 13     – 47

RIVERSIDE – Hyson Hill 1-10 3-4 5, Kenneth Mcclure 0-0 0-0 0, Brenden Powell 1-2 1-2 3, Matthew Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Paul Stone 7-17 1-3 15, Jon Mendenhall 0-0 0-0 0, Lane Owen 0-0 0-0 0, Gavyn Cervantes 3-8 0-0 7, Avery Clifford 1-2 0-2 2, Wyatt Daly-Patterson 3-5 0-2 6, Ryder Kozisek 2-8 2-4 6, Eli Jensen 1-2 0-0 3, Mason Brown 0-0 0-0 0,

3 POINT GOALS – 2 (Gavyn Cervantes 1, Eli Jensen 1)  REBOUNDS – Riverside 30 (Paul Stone 10, Gavyn Cervantes 10)  STEALS – Riverside 5 (Paul Stone 2, Gavyn Cervantes 2) TURNOVERS – Riverside 13