First-half deficit hurts MCS boys

Sunshine Bible Academy’s Jaden Brockel came up with a steal when his team needed it most.

The Crusaders were ahead 62-59 with 11 seconds to go in the game and Mitchell Christian had the ball inside the paint. Brockel reached in for the steal, went coast-to-coast for a layup and secured the Crusaders’ 65-59 victory over the Eagles Monday at Mitchell Christian School.

“I just told them they needed to defend better and Jaden Brockel made the play of the game on the steal,” said Sunshine Bible Academy head coach Jamie McClain, whose team defeated Mitchell Christian last season at home.

The Eagles (2-12) got down early in the game as Sunshine Bible Academy outscored them 25-15 in the first quarter.

The Crusaders (5-9) didn’t let up in the second as they pushed their lead to 33-20 — their largest of the game. Sunshine Bible Academy made six of its eight baskets from inside the paint.

“We worked hard all week trying to cover the low post,” Eagles coach Dennis Martin said.

Mitchell Christian pooled together at the end of the second to come within 41-33 at halftime.

In the third, the Eagles came out firing and outscored Sunshine Bible Academy 15-8 in the third and were led by Adam Rasmussen with six third-quarter points.

Mitchell Christian forced back-to-back turnovers and scored on both possessions to go ahead 52-49 to open the fourth quarter.

Buckets went down for each team one after the other until 2:50 remained on the clock. After an Eagle timeout, the Crusaders scored two consecutive baskets to take the 62-57 lead.

Jackson Feiner, who scored 18 points in the game, scored once more for Mitchell Christian to come within three, but the Eagles didn’t get closer.

“We spent quite a bit of energy trying to get back into it in the third quarter, and I think that kind of hurt us when we went into the fourth,” said Martin, who kept his five starters in the entire game. “I think the kids did a great job, but unfortunately, we just dug ourselves too big of a whole and couldn’t get out of it.”

The Eagles were led by Rasmussen with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Chandler Nelson grabbed seven rebounds in the loss and Wes VanderPol scored 11 points for the Eagles.

Sunshine Bible Academy was led by Brockel with 18 points. Brady Brockel scored 17 points and had a game-high 15 rebounds for a double-double, Brian LaDue recorded 13 points and Drew McClain added 11 points in the win.

The Eagles are back in action today as they travel to play James Valley Christian at 7:30 p.m. in Huron.

SUNSHINE BIBLE ACADEMY 65

MITCHELL CHRISTIAN 59

MCS (2-12)

Keegan Larson-Shields 0 0-0 0; Jackson Feiner 8 1-2 18; Adam Rasmussen 9 3-4 21; Chandler Nelson 4 1-5 9; Wes VanderPol 4 2-3 11; Totals: 25 7-14 59.

SBA (5-9)

Brady Brockel 7 3-6 17; Daniel Pedersen 2 0-2 4; Brian LaDue 6 0-0 13; Drew McClain 4 0-2 11; Jaden Brockel 6 3-4 18; Chibueze Egeruoh 1 0-0 2; Stetson Erickson 0 0-0 0; Totals: 26 6-14 65.

MCS 15 33 48 59

SBA 25 41 49 65

3-point goals: MCS 2 (Feiner 1, Nelson 1), SBA 7 (LaDue 1, McClain 3, J. Brockel 3); Rebounds: MCS 20 (Rasmussen 10, Nelson 7), SBA 38 (B. Brockel 15, LaDue 8); Assists: MCS 9 (Feiner 3), SBA 16 (LaDue 6); Steals: MCS 10 (Feiner 3, VanderPol 3), SBA 7 (J. Brockel 3); Turnovers: MCS 9, SBA 12.

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