By JIM STEELE
mckenzierebels.com

GLEASON - A month ago, at Huntingdon, Gleason's Bulldog basketball team was a thorn in McKenzie's side as the Rebels had to rally from 11 down to defeat their counterparts 53-48.

Monday night at the Dog Pound, Gleason was just as pestilent. McKenzie needed a bit of a late attitude adjustment while the game was still on the line, but it managed to outduel the host Bulldogs 53-46.

"The best thing you can say about this one is that we won and it's over," said McKenzie coach Lynn Yarbrough. "Once we quit trying to shoot threes late in the game when we were tired and started to attack the basket, we started to play a lot better."

Gleason kept hanging around and hanging around, much like it has (it took a Brice Priestly bucket with less than a second to play for the state-ranked Rebels to edge the unheralded Bulldogs two years ago) historically. The Rebels started out well with an 11-4 lead, but Gleason went on a 9-3 run to cut the lead to one, 14-13, early in the second frame and even tied the game at 18 with 3:10 left. McKenzie built the lead back to five, 23-18, thanks to the sharpshooting of Derek Carr, who had four triples in the first half. But Gleason's Evan Orr and Codi Ezell were a sharpshooters themselves and their pair of triples lifted the Bulldogs in front 24-23. Carr hit another three to catapult McKenzie back in front, 26-24. Ezell hit a free throw, but missed a chance to knot the game with :27 to play. MHS led 26-25 at the half.

Hunter Herrin scored to start the third frame, but Gleason's Orr hit a two and a three to give Gleason a 30-28 advantage with 6:07 to play. From there, Carr, Shabree Payne and Tyler Holt put together an 8-0 volley for a 36-30 lead. McKenzie started to get a little separation and managed more of it with Carr's triple at the 2:12 mark of the third. Herrin's shot with 1:20 to play gave McKenzie a 41-33 lead going into the fourth.

Back came Gleason to start the fourth. The Bulldogs cut the lead in half, 41-37, in the first 90 seconds. Meanwhile, McKenzie kept firing away from the rainbow with a somewhat healthy lead. That prompted Yarbrough to pull all five starters off the floor and replace them with five understudies. While the main crew cooled their heels, they watched the understudies keep Gleason off the scoreboard for about two minutes. When the starters returned to the lineup, they outdistanced Gleason 10-5 and built the lead to nine, matching their largest margin of the game, 51-42.

Gleason didn't quit, but it was pretty much done by then as the Rebels improved to 8-10 overall. This wasn't a district game, but the Rebels remain in the hunt for the 13A lead with a 7-2 mark after defeating Big Sandy on Tuesday night.

Carr had 22 points, five triples and eight rebounds to lead the Rebels. Shabree Payne scored nine, Tyler Holt had seven points and nine rebonds. Josh Brown scored seven, Hunter Herrin had six and five boards, Luke Anderson scored two.

Orr led Gleason with 19 points while Ezell added nine.

McKenzie will wave goodbye to its seniors Friday night, weather permitting, as the Rebels host Hollow Rock-Bruceton Central for a District 13A battle. Pre-game ceremonies will begin after 6 p.m.