By Mike Drooger –

The Edgerton Public School boys’ basketball team hadn’t played a game for nine days. It showed. When they took to the court Thursday night, January 20, against the Rebels of Murray County Central, they hadn’t played since the 11th when they lost 70-40 to Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey.

Against the Rebels, the first seven possessions for Edgerton resulted in turnovers. The turn-overs continued. At the 13:40 mark of the first half, Edgerton led in the turnover battle 20-10. At game’s end, the Dutchmen had accumulated 30 miscues that helped the Rebels take a 72-29 victory.

The Rebels entered the game with a mark of 6-7. If fans weren’t aware of MCC’s record at game’s end, he or she likely would have thought the Rebels had won far more than they had lost. And it wasn’t just the turnovers they forced. The Rebels finished with 22 steals and they shot 21-for-34 from two-point range and 9-for-21 from beyond the arc. At different points during the game, the Rebels made three, five, four, and three shots in a row from two-point area. After they had attempted a dozen treys, they had made six. The only downfall for MCC was from the free throw line where they finished 3-for-11. But they made up for that low percentage by snagging a dozen offensive rebounds.

Even after beginning the game with those seven straight miscues, the Dutchmen were still miraculously in the game when Nolan Buckridge got Edgerton’s first hoop to make the score 2-9. To add insult to injury for EHS, their leading scorer Jacob Fischer was unable to play for a long stretch because he got smacked on the head that caused him to bleed. Later in the game, Fischer was sent to the bench again, this time with a bloody nose. Like the old “Hee Haw” song, Fischer had to think, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.” He did return long enough to nail a couple of treys and finish with ten points.