GRANADA — The Jaguars opened the second half with a 21-2 scoring run that lead Truman/Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain to a 72-44 win over the United South Central Rebels during non-league basketball action.

The Jaguars came out of halftime in Granada on Thursday night up two before Adam Heckman started the Jaguar run when he took a Cayden Fischer post-entry pass and spun into a fadeaway. Matt Heckman followed when he turned a steal into a traditional 3-point play.

Fischer kept the Rebels off the board with back-to-back blocks, then Jaguars guard Owen Wolter hit a right-wing 3 off a pass from Adam Heckman.

AJ Kloos scored the Rebels’ first points of the half with 16:24 left, then USC didn’t score until the 12:41 mark.

In that time, Fischer hit a mid-range jumper off a pass from Matt Heckman, Carter Spear euro-stepped his way to two points, Matt Heckman hit a left-wing 3 off an Adam Heckman assist and Cael Jaskulke made the back end of two free throw chances.

After the first five minutes of the second half, the Jaguar lead had gone from 25-23 to 46-25.

Jaguar head coach Adam Walker said the team’s defense sparked the run.

“Defensively we came out and pressed tonight,” Walker said. “We made some adjustments at halftime, we were playing into their hands in the first half. They were playing zone and we were bombing up 3s. Second half, we upped the tempo, made some big plays, got some big and-ones and knocked down shots when we needed to.”

Adam Heckman led the Jaguars with 22 points and neared double-double territory with his team-leading eight rebounds. Matt Heckman totalled 12 points and five boards, while Fischer and Jaskulke each put up 11 points.

Owen Wolter added eight points, six assists and four steals to the Jaguar win.

The teams stayed close in the first half, with 11 total lead changes and three ties before the break.

Matt Heckman powered the Jaguars through the opening half with 12 points, including eight of the team’s first 13, while Fischer had seven.

Kloos controlled the game for the Rebels, scoring 11 of his 21 points in the first half. None of the other Rebels reached 10 points scored. Kloos also totalled seven rebounds.

USC had a 20-19 lead with 2:42 left to play in the opening half before Fischer hit a 2 off a post-entry pass from Adam Heckman, then Adam Heckman used a Spear assist for two points.

Adam Stenzel tied the game with 50 seconds left when he hit a left-wing 3 off a Colten Quade assist, but with the final seconds running off, Wolter caught a pass from Fischer near the 3-point line, drove to the left elbow then hit a mid-range leaner to put the Jaguars up two heading into the break.

Walker said the Jaguars took advantage of halftime adjustments.

“We played a very good second half,” Walker said. “We’ve kind of become, in the last couple of games, a second-half team. We were a little sluggish to start, couldn’t find shots, couldn’t make shots. Two-point lead at halftime and we turned it into 20 pretty quick. We looked very good in the second half, Cedar Mountain we did the same thing. … We made adjustments, we found their shooters. … We got Adam (Heckman) going right away. … Matt (Heckman) hit some big shots, Owen (Wolter) made a couple huge 3s. We just started making plays the second half.”

With the win, the Jaguars start the season 5-0, including a 4-0 record against Section 2A teams. The Jaguars host Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda in Granada at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.

USC (1-2) plays host to Maple River at 7:15 p.m. tonight in Wells.

USC 23-21–44

TMLG 25-47–72

USC (44)

AJ Kloos 8-17 3-6 21, Adam Stenzel 3-4 0-0 7, Riley Staloch 1-6 2-6 4, Ethan Dallman 1-4 0-0 3, Ethan Bushlack 1-3 1-2 3, Colten Quade 1-3 0-0 2, Andy Krohnberg 1-1 0-0 2, Mason Stevermer 0-1 1-2 1, Joe Bonsack 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 16-40 8-18 44.

TMLGHEC (72)

Adam Heckman 9-15 4-4 22, Matt Heckman 4-8 3-6 12, Cayden Fischer 4-9 2-4 11, Cael Jaskulke 5-5 1-2 11, Owen Wolter 3-6 0-0 8, Carter Spear 2-6 0-0 4, Tucker Grathwohl 0-1 2-6 2, Louis Bowers 0-1 2-2 2, Jack Kruse 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 27-52 14-24 72.

3-pointers: USC 4; TMLGHEC 4. Fouled out: Stenzel (USC). Rebounds: USC 21 (Kloos 7); TMLGHEC 30 (Adam Heckman 8, Fischer 6, Matt Heckman 5, Wolter 5). Assists: USC 9; TMLGHEC 20 (Wolter 6, Spear 5). Steals: USC 6; TMLGHEC 12 (Wolter 4, Fischer 3). Blocks: TMLGHEC 4.