Fast-start Rebels roll over Raptors

The Moose Lake/Willow River boys basketball team grabbed an 18-point halftime lead as they rolled to an 82-56 road win over Carlton/Wrenshall in Wrenshall last Friday night.

"In the first half we gave up 31 points and half of them were the result of not getting back on defense," said Rebels coach Paul Dewey. "Carlton/Wrenshall took advantage by getting layups and releasing players early."

At the half the Rebels held a 49-31 lead against an inexperienced Raptors squad.

"We had a good start to the game," said Raptors coach Shawn Filipiak. "We matched their physical play, but after the first 10-12 minutes we lost it and they had a big run and pulled away."

Eli Youngs had a huge game with 30 points to lead the Rebels with teammate Layne Radzak, who also had a big night with 20 points. Joining Young and Radzak in double-digits was Jackson Walker with 10 points for ML/WR.

"Eli and Layne did a good job of putting the ball in the hoop," Dewey said.

While Youngs and Radzak were scoring for the Rebels, Jackson Korpela poured in a game-high 32 points for the Raptors, a feat that included 21 points in the first half.

"Korpela is a big part of everything we do," Filipiak said. "We run everything through him. He plays every position depending on what we need that particular night. Most of our starters didn't get much playing time last year and they are still learning to play at the varsity level."

ML/WR added 7 points from Reese Bode, while Chase Clausen had 6, McCain Miller 5 and Magnus Koecher and Elliott Wasche each scored 2.

The Rebels outscored the Raptors 33-25 in the second half.

"In the second half I challenged our boys to lock them down and keep them under 50 points for the game," Dewey said. "We were able to limit them to zero points in the first eight minutes of the second half by making some adjustments in our defensive scheme."

Joining Korpela in double digits for the Raptors was Matt Shaw, who finished with 12 points. Rounding out the scoring for Carlton/Wrenshall were Karl Tuttle with 9 points and 2 points for Bryce Bartczak.

"We are very inexperienced, but we're coming together as a team and things are slowly starting to click," Filipiak said. "We'd like to get a few more wins as we get closer to playoffs, but I am happy with the effort and we are trying to build toward something positive."

The win improved the Rebels record to 8-6, while the loss dropped the Raptors record to 1-11.