GLENDIVE, MT – Hank Plona has often said that there are two roads to Hutch, and if the Indian Hills Head Coach had his way, his team would take the preferred route by winning its way in to the NJCAA National Tournament.
Unfortunately for Plona and the Warriors, they'll have to take Plan B.
In a furious finish that saw three attempts to snatch victory go awry in the final three seconds of Saturday's North Central District Championship game, No. 6-rated Indian Hills fell by a single point at the Toepke Center, 68-67, sending the hosts from Dawson (23-2) to Hutchinson, Kansas for the National Tournament for the first time in the 63-year history of Buccaneer basketball. Meanwhile, the Warriors (21-3), who were shooting for their 17th bid to the tournament, will have to wait until 6 p.m. CDT Sunday when the NJCAA makes its at-large selections known.
"I can't be any proud of a basketball team than I am of the 2021 Warriors," Plona said. "I've thought we have championship DNA all season, and I believe it even more after this game. We will better as individuals and hopefully get the chance to show we are better as a team after going through this experience."
The fact that the Warriors even had a shot at victory seemed improbable at best for most of the second half as IHCC, which never led in the contest, fell behind by as much as 19 points before a furious rally led to the crazy game-ending sequence. Add in the intangible factor of playing in front of a raucous crowd for the first time all season, and the Warriors certainly had their work cut out for them.
"After not having played in front of a crowd all year, what a tough environment that was," Plona admitted. "Dawson has a passionate fan base that created the most difficult environment any team had to play in for a district final, much like Warrior Nation to them last year. It's just different playing in that type of atmosphere, and it was our first time in it. We will be better for it."
Plona's Warriors were held nearly 20 points below their season average for points in a physical contest that wouldn't allow IHCC to get to the rim, or to the free throw line with their usual regularity. And when Indian Hills turned to the 3-point line for an answer, the well was dry there more often than not. The Warriors shot a paltry 5-for-24 from distance (20.8 percent) and only made ten trips to the charity stripe for the entire game, when their season average was over double that mark (21.3).
Despite those grim numbers, the Warriors were down just three at half after trailing by as many as 10 points nine minutes into the contest. The position was not a totally unfamiliar spot for IHCC as they had trailed at half on seven prior occasions in 2021, while finding a way to win in six of those previous instances.
Those hoping for a quick Warrior turnaround after intermission were left wanting as the Buccaneers threatened to make a laugher out of things as 7 ½ minutes into the second half IHCC had only managed six points to Dawson's 20 and the hosts led 53-36 with 12:20 left.
Every time the Warriors would go on a mini-run, the Bucs seemed to have an answer, as reserve Kennedy Brown was instrumental in keeping IHCC at bay with 15 points, 10 of which came in the second half against the smaller Indian Hills defenders.
Brown's 13th point pushed the Dawson lead back to 61-48 with 7:56 and it seemed like the Warriors would be unable to get any closer than a double-digit deficit that had plagued them much of the second stanza. However, in an instant, the IHCC squad that most of its followers were used to seeing all season showed up with a 10-0 run. A Tyem Freeman slam and lay in were followed rapidly by back-to-back buckets from Tyrese Nickelson and a Chris Payton layup, and suddenly the Warriors were within three with 4 ½ minutes to play.
Dawson still held a 66-62 lead with under a minute to play when a Payton steal and dish to a streaking Curtis Jones pulled Indian Hills to within a pair, but Jajuan Tot nailed a floater in the lane on the other end to push the Buccaneer advantage back to four with 41 ticks left on the clock.
Freeman missed in an attempt to cut into the Dawson lead with 25 seconds left, but Tot failed on the front end of a 1-on-1 which gave the Warriors life. Jones threw in an improbable trey that banked off glass from the wing with 14 seconds remaining and IHCC was down just one at 68-67.
Indian Hills was forced to foul and Buccaneers' leading scorer Michael Jok was sent to the line for another 1-and-the bonus opportunity. The 78 percent free throw shooter left the door open by missing the front end which set up the frantic end-of-game sequence.
As the clock wound down, the ball got away from Plona's preferred ball handler, Jones, and the freshman point man found himself trapped in the corner. In desperation, Jones turned and launched a difficult shot over the double team which caromed off the rim right into the hands of a crashing Nickelson, who caught and flung the ball back at the rim which wouldn't quite ring true. A Payton attempt to tip the ball back in failed as the buzzer sounded and a wild Buccaneer celebration ensued as Dawson had punched its ticket to the National Tournament.
Freeman led the Warriors in scoring with 20 points followed by Nickelson's 13. Jones had 11 and Chris Payton notched his 14th double-double, and eighth consecutive with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"I am super proud of our resiliency and toughness. There was not one moment in that game when I thought we wouldn't win right until Tyrese's shot rimmed out," Plona said. "We have the heart of a champion and that showed in this game. Tyrese, Curt, Tye, Chris, Levar, Braxton, Theo, Trey and Taj all have contributed throughout the year, and together they are a tough team to beat. It takes a team's best effort to beat us, and give credit to Dawson, they had that tonight."
The waiting game for Plona and the Warriors will be short lived as the NJCAA Selection Show will end the suspense in just a few short hours at 6 p.m. CDT. The NJCAA Network will stream the announcement live at: https://www.njcaa.org/network.
"I am optimistic about our chances to play in the National Tournament," Plona forecasted. "We have a group that knows that we can go down and make a run at a National Championship. I'm looking forward and am hopeful that we get that opportunity."
NJCAA North Central District Championship
Toepke Center - Glendive, MT
Scoring Summary
Dawson 68, Indian Hills 67
Team 1st 2nd Total
Indian Hills 30 37 67
Dawson 33 35 68