Rebels attempt to rebound from first district loss

MIDLAND – Playing on the road in District 7-B is never an easy task, especially when it comes to rivalries like the Midland-Lacassine matchup last Friday.
The Rebels suffered through their worst case of road woes of the season – and many seasons – in what turned out to be a 39-37 upset at the hands of the Cardinals.
“Friday was pretty much like a nightmare; it was that bad,” said Midland coach Todd Briley, whose team shot just 21 percent from the floor in the losing effort. “We didn’t get any breaks and we just couldn’t get anything to go our way.”
The Rebels (18-3, 2-1) were just 11 for 38 from 2-point range and made just one of their 20 attempts from beyond the arch. They also made just 12 of their 21 free throw attempts and turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 17 times on the night.
Rebels’ leading scorer Jake Gautreaux struggled to find a rhythm and scored just seven points on the night. He made just one shot from the floor and was five for six from the charity stripe.
“We just couldn’t get anything to fall and Jake, who is one of our best shooters, goes 1-for-22 from the floor,” said Briley. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that. That was just about as bad as I’ve ever seen us play and we still only lose by two.”
But even as bad as it was, Briley still was able to find some positives in the loss.
“I thought we tried hard and we fought until the very end,” said Briley. “It was just one of those nights that you hope you never see again.”
The Rebels had been red hot up until Friday’s contest, winning 18 of their last 20 games. They were on a seven-game winning streak after falling to Comeaux on Dec. 20 in the Barbe Tournament.
“It seems like we had kind of let off the gas after the holidays,” said Briley. “We played well in our tournament, but since then, it seems like something was kind of missing.”
Briley hopes that Friday’s loss, which put them in a tie with Lacassine atop the league standings, will help his team refocus and put them back on the winning track.
“We had to sit there in that locker room and listen to all that celebrating and stuff going on around us Friday and it was tough,” said Briley. “That was painful for the kids so I hope that this is something that we can look back on when we kind of lose focus and kind of remember that loss and try not to let that repeat itself again.”
“And maybe it will wake us up and we’ll bounce back to reality.”
Briley’s squad took that first step of bouncing back last night with a league contest in Cade against ESA. Results of that contest, however, were not available at press time.
The Rebels will face another stiff road challenge on Friday when they travel to Bell City.
“Bell City will be a challenge,” said Briley. “To me, they are better than Lacassine. We just have to go over there and be ready to play.”