Drew Harrell posted 20 points in the Lowndes Academy Rebels' 34-27 victory over Calvary last week.

After being quite for a majority of the first half, Harrell exploded in the second with nine points in third quarter and then six points in the fourth to go along with his five first quarter points.

"If Drew can get above 15 points, we've got a chance at being successful," said Matt Marshall, coach of the LA Rebs.

According to Marshall, Harrell is averaging around 16 points a game.

But, against Calvary's Watchmen, Harrell had them standing slack-jawed as he lit up the scoreboard with four three's.

But, offense wasn't what won the game for the Rebels. It was rebounding.

"Basically the game came down to rebounding," said Marshall. "We rebounded the ball very well and we also limited them to one shot. There were a couple of times where they had a second shot opportunity, but not many. When we got the ball we were patient on offense. We worked the close range baskets and the easy lay-up type shots."

LA jumped out to an early 7-2 lead and never looked back for the duration of the game, going into the locker room with a 13-6 lead at the half. From there, the Rebels doubled their first half production in the third quarter, jumping ahead 27- 19.

Steven Cockrell scored four points, and Harrell scored nine to break the tight game open and push the Rebs into an unreachable lead. By the time the finally whistle blew, the Rebels were on the high side of the scoreboard, posting the 34-27 victory.

"I also thought that Cockrell stepped up for us," said Marshall. "He's a senior and took a year off last year. But he really stepped up on defense for us and had eight or nine steals in the game."

While the guys were crashing the boards and putting on a rebounding clinic, their female counterparts taught the Lady Watchmen, or Watchpersons, all about defense.

The Lady Rebs jumped in to a full-court press defense to open the game the women of Calvary didn't know how to react.

According to Marshall, Calvary only crossed halfcourt twice in the first quarter, helping the Lady Rebs to jump out to an early 23-0 lead. In the game, everyone that was in high school scored at least one basket.

However, Jordan Insinga had 12 assists and was directly associated with 24 of the team's 69 total points.

Chelsie Kilpatrick was the team's leading scorer with 19 points. She was followed by Lauren Kilpatrick with 16 and Michele Sims with 12.

"Sims came back against Calvary," said Marshall.

"She's pretty much back to playing, but still doing some treatment. She played basically pain free against Calvary, but I am still using her sparingly. But she came back with 12 points and probably had 12 rebounds. She's getting a little better everyday. We are having to limit her during practice. "

"She's an impact player. When she was in Calvary tried to pack the paint, and that left our guards open. She's scheduled to play tonight. But the way her back is it's kind of day-to-day, bump-to-bump. I'd rather have her for a couple of area games and for the playoffs than waste her during the preseason and end up losing her for the playoffs. I talked to her mother and she basically said it's her back and her decision.

According to Marshall who pulls double duty with the Lady Rebels, Calvary only had five first half shots – three of them found their way into the basket during the second quarter. But by that point the damage was already done and the Lady Rebs were in complete control, 40-6 at the intermission.

The Lady Rebs posted a 69- 8 victory over Calvary.

"I interchanged my lineup," said Marshall. "I told them they were going to play in 3:00 min spurts. If they wanted to get their names in the books, then they had to bust it for those three minutes. At the end of three minutes that five would go out and a new five would come in. I do a lot of substations throughout the game, kept everybody in the lineup and on the floor."

The Rebels were in action Tuesday night in a key area match with South Montgomery County Academy. LA will be in action on Thursday when they travel to Autauga for another area game.

Currently, Autauga, Lowndes and SMCA are all tied for first place with each squad holding an are victory and no losses.