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JUCO basketball: No. 13 Indian Hills outlasts eighth-ranked Lakers

Scott Jackson, Ottumwa Courier, Iowa
·5 min read

Mar. 16—OTTUMWA — Winning in March is never easy, no matter how good a college basketball team is.

The Indian Hills Warriors were reminded of that fact on Saturday against Iowa Lakes, a team that has hopes of playing deep into the month of April this year as a contender for the NJCAA Division II national tournament. Over the final 10 minutes, the 11th-ranked (NJCAA DI) Warriors made enough plays and more than enough free throws to close out a tough home win, clinching a 101-92 victory over the eighth-ranked (NJCAA DII) Lakers to remain out in front in the season-long race for the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference regular-season title.

"Looking back at it, I think it can certainly help us moving forward," IHCC head men's basketball coach Hank Plona said. "As a coach, I'd have rather signed up for the type of win we were looking at in the first half when we were up 30-17. I thought that, if we continued to guard they way we did in the first 10 minutes, we could have been in a good situation.

"I thought we really let up on that end of the floor. If you let a good team back in the game, you know you'll be in for a dogfight, which we were."

The Warriors, now 14-2 on the season, figure to see plenty of these type of dogfights heading beyond the month of March. The Warriors ultimately hope to bring the curtain down on their pandemic-delayed season in mid-April at the NJCAA Division I men's basketball national tournament contending for the program's fourth national championship.

To do that, Indian Hills will likely have to find ways to make the same type of plays that rallied the Warriors from a 68-61 deficit against the Lakers on Saturday. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Ryan Hall with 10 minutes left gave Iowa Lakes their biggest lead of the game after falling 13 behind the Warriors at almost the exact same point of the first half.

"We understand the name on the front of the jersey is going to bring out the best in every team we face," Indian Hills sophomore Chris Payton said. "Every team is going to give us their best shot. We have to be prepared for that in every single game."

Iowa Lakes (10-6) cut IHCC's 30-17 lead down to 36-34 as Dillon Carlson began to heat up, scoring eight of his 15 points for the Lakers late in the first half. The Lakers completed their comeback three minutes into the second half, tying the game with 16:10 left on a 3-pointer by Carlson before Johnathan Oden found Xzaiver Jones inside for a basket that gave Iowa Lakes the lead for the first time in the game with 15:14 remaining.

"I do understand that we're not going to wipe every team out, but at the same time we need to play as good as we can play," Plona said. "Once the game gets like that, it comes down to mental toughness. You've got to make stops. You've got to play hard on the defensive end and unselfish at the offensive end."

In the end, the Warriors forced 20 turnovers on the defensive end with five in the final five minutes keeping Iowa Lakes from finding key scores that might have allowed the Lakers to remain in front. Indian Hills also showed discipline on the offensive end, forcing three Iowa Lakes players to foul out while earning 45 shots from the foul line, leading to a 36-20 scoring advantage from the charity stripe.

"When the game got close, all of sudden we played better basketball," Plona said. "I think we're fortunate to come out with a win, because I do think we let (Iowa Lakes) back in the game several times. There were a lot of guys that made some really unselfish plays towards the end that allowed us to win."

Indian Hills will likely be in for another dogfight on Wednesday. The Warriors head to DMACC, the top-ranked team in NJCAA Division II, seeking to avenge a home loss to the Bears in January while remaining on top of the ICCAC regular-season standings.

"It's really on us to perform. It's on us get better. It's on us to get locked in," Payton said. "We understand what's in front of us. We understand the opportunity that we have to prove something to ourselves and to the people that doubt us."

Curtis Jones led the Warriors in scoring for the third straight game, finishing with 21 points including five points during a game-changing 7-0 run that featured three straight Warrior steals before drawing a foul while teammate Taj Anderson sank a 3-pointer, leading to a five-point possession for IHCC that opened an 89-80 Warrior lead with 2:07 left.

IOWA LAKES (10-6)

Hall 7-12 0-0 18, Cook 7-10 1-2 17, Carlson 4-9 4-4 15, Oden 5-6 4-5 14, Johnson 3-7 6-8 13, Jones 3-8 5-8 12, Meiberg 1-3 0-0 3, Schutt 0-2, 0-0, 0. Totals 31-57 20-27 92.

INDIAN HILLS (14-2)

Jones 6-9 5-6 21, Anderson 5-14 3-4 17, Payton 5-9 6-9 16, Nickelson 3-8 8-8 15, Freeman 3-19 8-10 14, Williams 3-6 2-2 10, Bayless 2-7 4-7 8. Totals 28-63 36-45 101.

Halftime—Indian Hills 46-41. 3-Point Goals—Iowa Lakes 10-21 (Hall 4-8, Carlson 3-7, Johnson 1-1, Jones 1-2, Meiberg 1-2, Schutt 0-1), Indian Hills 11-26 (Jones 4-6, Anderson 4-10, Williams 2-5, Nickelson 1-2, Bayless 0-1, Freeman 0-2). Rebounds—Iowa Lakes 39 (Jones 9), Indian Hills 28 (Payton 7). Assists—Iowa Lakes 25 (Johnson 7), Indian Hills 25 (Jones 9). Total Fouls—Iowa Lakes 31, Indian Hills 20. A—NA.

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.