McKENZIE (March 6) — The McKenzie Rebels are headed back to state after they punched their ticket with a 55-36 victory over the Moore County Raiders. The Rebels started the game off with a ten-point lead and added to that throughout the night.
The Rebels held the Raiders to five points in the first quarter. Alex Copeland drove to the basket for four points. Peyton Martin tacked on the other point from the free throw line.
McKenzie came out hot, draining three 3-pointers and chalking up 15 points to start the game. Zach Aird had six points from beyond the arc. Tate Surber made a 3-pointer, then drove to the basket for two points. Marquez Taylor and Zay Webber had two points each. The Rebels led 15-5 at the end of the first quarter.
The Raiders put up ten points in the second quarter but still trailed the Rebels at halftime. Will Baker drove to the basket twice for four points. Keller Morey and Copeland each had a shot in the paint for two points. Martin muscled his way to the basket for two points.
McKenzie took a 32-15 lead at halftime. Aird had two shots in the paint and one from the arc. Surber drove to the basket for two points, then drew a foul for a 3-point play in the paint.
Moore County struggled to put points on the board during the third quarter due to the Rebels defense. Copeland and Baker scored two points each for the Raiders.

The Rebels tacked on ten points during the third quarter. Bryson Steele had six points in the paint and two points from the free throw line. Surber had two points under the net. The Rebels led 42-19 going into the fourth quarter.
Moore County rallied in the final quarter to score 17 points. Copeland made a shot from behind the arc for three points, then tack on one point from the foul line. Baker had four points in the paint. Brantley Hill and Dawson White drove to the basket for two points each. Tristyn Grey topped off the game with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
The Rebels added another 13 points to their lead in the fourth quarter. Taylor chalked up five points, and Surber had four points. Webber and Steele had two points each.
Surber led the Rebels with 16 points. Aird had 13 points, and Steele had 12 points.
McKenzie defeated Moore County 55-36 to move onto the TSSAA state tournament.
The Rebels travel to Middle Tennessee State University on Wednesday, March 15 to start the tournament. McKenzie’s first opponent is University High School of Johnson City. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.at MTSU’s Murphy Center.