Staff Photo by Jake Olson: Granada Huntley East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther's Ethan Jaskulke pivots towards the basket during the opening moments of Monday night's contest against United South Central.

GRANADA – Chants of “Defense, defense, defense,” rang through the Granada-Huntley-East Chain High School on Monday night. The crowd began to swell in energy while seeing their team face 52-51 deficit against United South Central with just under a minute remaining.

Brody Steinhauser answered the bell perfectly for the Rebels, cutting to the basket, driving through the contact and finishing off the and-one opportunity to firmly silence anyone cheering for purple and white.

United South Central would knock down a handful of free throws late that continually put the game out of reach, taking home the 58-54 victory over GHEC/T/ML for its second win of the season.

“I feel bad for the kids. They fought hard, and sometimes that’s how it works out,” GHEC/T/ML head coach Bryan Nowicki said after the loss.

Eli Jensen led all Jaguars with 17 points and eight steals. Brody Grathwohl and Lane Kruse each chipped in 9 points.

GHEC/T/ML’s first half performance was highlighted by an efficient effort on both offensive and defensive sides of the court, using a full court press and 2-3 zone to slow down the United South Central scoring output.

The Jaguars made things out of hand early after jumping to a 26-13 lead at the five minute mark of the first half, capping off a scoring surge with two free throws by Jensen. Nowicki’s team was using its aggressive on-ball pressure to generate multiple turnovers that led to easy looks on the other end.

A Kruse 3-pointer and transition layups from Jensen and Grathwohl eased the Jaguars to a 34-20 cushion heading into the intermission.

The lead dwindled as the second half strung along. The Rebels began to slow down their own tempo, passing with more care and waiting for efficient opportunities inside of the defensive zone. A Wyatt Sparks midrange jumper put a stamp on a 12-5 scoring run to begin the half, causing Nowicki to burn a timeout with 12:06 left to play.

“They [United South Central] got a little more patient in handling the ball,” Nowicki said.

USC continued to inch closer while taking advantage of static ball movement in the Jaguars offensive sets. Steinhauser nailed an outside shot with just under seven minutes left to play, finishing off an impressive eight point swing to make the game 48-46.

“We are still trying to get past the mentality of if a couple things don’t go our way, we get down and frustrated,” Nowicki said. “Everybody thinks that one basket is worth 10 points, it’s not, you have to slow down and run the ball.”

The Rebels comeback effort was firmly satisfied by a corner 3-pointer from Seth Kayser and an emphatic layup from Jayden Barnick, stepping ahead of Nowicki’s team 51-48 with two minutes remaining.

GHEC/T/ML tied things up the very next play after Regan Emmert found Jensen at the top of the key for an outside shot. However, free throws from Sparks and Steinhauser’s momentum swinging-and-one proved to be too much for the home team.

The Jaguars (2-5) will continue their season next Tuesday against Sleepy Eye starting at 7:30 p.m.