Rebels crash the glass to beat Athletics

Published 10:24 pm Monday, January 7, 2019

LYLE — Southland junior Carter Schmitz hasn’t played a lot of basketball in the last three years, but he looked at home in just his third varsity game of this season as the Rebels held off Lyle-Pacelli 65-52 in Lyle Monday.

Schmitz picked up the slack for the Rebels in the second half after Southland center Ethan Forthun, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, headed to the bench after picking up his fourth foul with 11:58 left in the game. Schmitz, who grabbed five rebounds, scored all 10 of his points in the second half and scored back-to-back hoops to put Southland up 51-40 with 5:30 left in the game.

“Carter’s been the answer and he’s making it happen out there,” Southland head coach Matt Webber said.

Southland’s Nick Boe, Noah Lamp and Matt Mueller team up to grab a rebound against Lyle-Pacelli in Lyle Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

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Schmitz missed two straight seasons of basketball due to football injuries and he was playing with the Southland JV team this year until he was recently called up to play with the varsity. He’s been finding his footing and he’s having a good time while doing it.

“It’s been getting better and better and I’m just trying to help our team,” Schmitz said. “It feels good to be out there.”

LP (4-8 overall) trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, but it rallied to get within 40-38 when Jed Nelson, who had 18 points, scored. The Rebels (4-7 overall) had an answer as Matt Mueller hit a three-pointer to put his team up 43-38 with 8:05 left.  LP never had a chance to tie or take the lead the rest of the way. Mueller finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and three assists and Reece Tapp also played well as he finished with 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

Southland, which has now won three straight games, out-rebounded LP 50-28.

“We just out-hustled them and we’ve been working well together,” Tapp said. “This is a big rivalry game and it’s a good win.”

Webber said his team answered the call in a high-strung environment in Lyle.

Lyle-Pacelli’s Buoy Koak goes up to block a lay-up attempt by Southland’s Reece Tapp in Lyle Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

“I told the guys before the game that I grew up with (LP head coach) Scott (Koenigs) and we do a lot of the same things, so it would come down to who had the bigger heart,” Webber said.

LP eighth grader Buay Koak finished with four points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots and Zach Bollingberg had 10 points, five rebounds and three steals.

Reece Tapp pulls up for a three-ponter for the Rebels in Lyle Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

Southland 30  35    65

LP 19  34    52

Southland scoring: Reece Tapp, 16; Ethan Forhun, 13; Matt Mueller, 12; Carter Schmitz, 10; Lee Wilson, 9; Nick Boe, 3; Noah Lamp, 2; free throws: 44 percent (7-for-16); rebounds: 50; turnovers: 13

LP scoring: Jed Nelson, 18; Zach Bollingberg, 10; Aron Hoffer-Toth, 7; Mach Diang, 7; Buay Koak, 4; Cole Walter, 4; Tyson Anderson, 2; free throws: 61 percent (11-for-18); rebounds: 28; turnovers: 7