Rebels Enter Conference Field With A Win

It was announced on Sunday that the Howell boys basketball team had earned the 12th seed in the Shore conference Tournament, earning them a home game against Brick Memorial Tuesday night.

But before that the Rebels played the Wall Knights on Monday and picked up a hard fought win despite having one of their top players on the bench. The final score had Howell winning 50-42 thanks to the efforts of players like Kendall Simmons and Mike Porter.

Simmons had one of his best games of the year at just the right time, as he put up 18 points while pulling down 12 rebounds. Simmons was deadly accurate from long range netting 12 points from beyond the three point line.

Porter meanwhile had 11 points including a key 3-pointer in the fourth to move his team's lead from three to six. 

With Keegan being injured in the previous game against Freehold Township, Coach Brian Quick said it actually helped his team to know that he was not going to be playing. This way they could focus on the task at hand. "Mentally, it's harder if you lose a player during a game than it is if you know ahead of time," he said. 

The Howell coach said going into the game against Wall his team knew they would have to play strong defense, and on Friday that effort was led by Raquan Haynes. "Rock has been an unsung hero this year," the coach said. "He has developed into a really good all-around basketball player and is a huge part of our success over the last month. He has a great attitude and has worked really hard to get t the point he's at."

With all those players contributing, Coach Quick said the night arguably belonged to Simmons. "When Kendall is on he plays with such unbridled enthusiasm," he said. "He is our verbal leader and he can take us to that next level whenever he wants. Tonight he did."

The coach was also understandably proud of the effort Porter put in. "Mike came out tonight determined to get the job done," he said. "He showed a lot of maturity and hit some big shots right out of the gate that set the tone early.

While the players on the court made a definite impact, Coach Quick said it was one of the players not in the lineup that made for a different experience on Friday. For the first time in his varsity career Keegan was a spectator watching his team play. "It was really strange not to have him announced in the starting lineup. This was the first high school game he's ever missed and you can just tell it was tearing him apart on the inside."

Coach Quick said Keegan will be a game time decision for the Rebels when it comes to Tuesday Brick Memorial game. This will be the second time the two teams meet this year. The first time was back on Jan. 15 when the Rebels kicked off a string of wins with a 67-58 victory. The Mustangs are coming off a win against Freehold Township which actually knocked the Patriots out of the Shore Conference Tournament.

The Howell coach described the Brick squad as "a dangerous team."