Photo by Samantha Davis. Murray County Central's Thea Schneider drives the lane in the second half against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Monday evening at TMB High School. Schneider finished with a game-high 13 points in the Rebels' 56-41 win. 

TRACY — After fighting a slow start, the Murray County Central girls basketball team found a way to defeat Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 56-41 Monday evening. The Rebels gained control late in the first half and continued with a strong rebounding effort. Thea Schneider led all scorers with 13 points.

“We definitely went into this game knowing it’s a section game, you get to play them once,” Schneider said. “Our whole team had a lot of scrappiness in their head … Coming off a couple losses last week, I think we just had a little bit more like, ‘Hey, we got to get our back on our winning streak’ [mentality].”

In addition to Schneider, Kat Miller followed with 9 points while Ava Deacon and Kelli Miller each finished with 7 points for MCC. For the Panthers, Melaina Ankrum led with 11 points, followed by 9 points each from Brianna Duscher and Ella Voss.

Overall, the Rebels shot 33% from the field and limited the Panthers to 22%. MCC outrebounded TMB 45-39.

The Rebels took control of the game late in the first half, and benefitted off full-court pressing throughout the entire game. TMB attempted a late comeback in the second, however was quickly halted with aggressive Rebels defense.

“I thought the girls did a really good job, especially early in the game, of adjusting … We had a couple of droughts there, and credit to MCC’s defense,” TMB head coach Derek Ashbaugh said. “They did a really nice job switching things up, pressuring us … That bothered us. We’re just still looking for some consistency in the scoring.”

Both the Panthers and Rebels have had troubling starts to the season and were looking to get back in the win column on Monday.

TMB, coming in at 1-4, hasn’t won a game since its season opener with a 54-48 win over Wabasso on Nov. 26, and has lost its last four games prior to this week by 21 or more points.

“We just got to try to find a few more ways to put the ball in the basket, and I think that will lead to a lot more success for us,” Ashbaugh said. “The girls have been working hard, it’s been really good, they just got to keep grinding and see what we can do.”

The Rebels, who entered 2-4, were coming off a 45-29 loss to Westbrook-Walnut Grove last Thursday, but recently defeated Southwest Minnesota Christian by a point on Dec. 6.

“Monday games are not always fun, so I think a good win really helped us out for the rest of the week,” Schneider said.

TMB and MCC were evenly matched in the beginning of the game on several counts, until the Rebels began to heat up with second chance points from collecting rebounds.

Deacon also finished with 10 rebounds and four steals for MCC, followed by another six boards from Schryvers.

MCC built up a 25-14 lead by halftime.

Both teams employed a full-court press from the jump. The Rebels and Panthers were each generally able to break through the press but MCC was able to grab a few steals from it.

“We wanted to make sure to keep this game at a high pace, and I thought we did a good job of creating some opportunities,” MCC head coach Lucas Freeman said. “We haven’t been the best offensive team, so sometimes it’s nice to create some easy opportunities for us, and we did that … I was happy with the way we played defense.”

Duscher got fouled on a putback from an offensive board for TMB after Deacon’s 3, and made 1 of 2 free throws.

TMB often attracted fouls by driving into the lane but struggled to knock down free throws.

“We’re trying to get into the paint as much as we possibly can, and I thought the girls did a good job of that,” Ashbaugh said. “We just missed some opportunities … We’re doing a lot of the right things. We just got to try to capitalize on some of the opportunities that we get.”

After a small scoring drought, Ankrum made a layup through contact to give the Panthers an 8-7 lead. Yet, Miller hit a 3-pointer in response to put MCC back on top. Shortly after, MCC grabbed its largest lead yet 16-10 after Miller made a basket off a feed inside the paint.

Schneider, who also had a few blocks in the half, made a pair of free throws along with a layup from both Suttyn Schryvers and Calleigh Doeden for the Rebels to create its 11-point lead heading into the locker room.

MCC’s offensive momentum continued out of the half with an 8-0 run, started by a pair of buckets from Schneider down low and forced TMB to call an early timeout.

“The first half, I did not play my best basketball. It was just knowing the second half, the game basically starts 0-0, again,” Schneider said. “You just come out, play your basketball, and you just start over. You do what you have to do, and I feel like I came out and did that.”

The rest of the game was stagnant and MCC didn’t lose sight of its cushioned lead.

“I thought she [Schneider] played really well. We got on her at half time to be a little bit more aggressive, and I thought she did that,” Freeman said. “She was able to score points, but then she also created opportunities for others there. That’s something we need out of her, to be aggressive, and as a senior, hopefully she continues to gain confidence and be able to do that.”

While MCC played man defense the bulk of the game, they switched to a zone later on.

“We thought they [TMB] were really getting in the lane too much and getting some kick out 3’s,” Freeman said regarding the decision to switch to zone. “We wanted to try and spread some things out, and see if we can force them out of the paint and force them to shoot.”

MCC (3-4) has a quick turnaround and will travel to Edgerton tonight for a 7:30 p.m. game against Edgerton.

“We just got to know now that we’re coming off a win, just keep doing that. Play the same way,” Schneider said. “Even though Edgerton is a totally different team, don’t take them differently and just keep them with what we’ve been doing.”

TMB (1-5) will next host Renville County West (2-6) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

TMB senior Kyli Carter also is sidelined with an ankle injury that is currently in a cast. Ashbaugh said she is expected to be out a majority of the season, possibly in its entirety.