OTTUMWA, IA – For the eighth time in the last ten seasons, Indian Hills is the Region XI Men's Division I Basketbball Tournament Champions.
The No. 6-ranked Warriors used a stifling defense and an opportunistic offense in that order to take an 84-65 victory over rival Southeastern at the Hellyer Center Tuesday night. The win sends IHCC to the North District Championship game on Saturday in Glendive, Montana against Dawson (22-2) with a bid to the NJCAA National Tournament hanging in the balance.
That suspense will have to wait until week's end. What was surprisingly not suspenseful, was Tuesday's Region XI title game, as Indian Hills took off on run after Southeastern held its last lead at 10-9 with 13:33 left in the first half, and never looked back. The Blackhawks had proven early in the season to be nearly equal with the Warriors as the two teams went to overtime in West Burlington before Indian Hills would find a way to edge SCC. On Tuesday night, the Blackhawks were not equal with the Warriors, and the IHCC defense made sure of it.
Hank Plona's defense-first approach slowed the Blackhawks and led to offensive chances that the Warriors cashed in on as IHCC had first-half spurts of 10-2 and 12-4 to give the hosts a 40-22 lead with just under two minutes to play until half. SCC would fight back with a 7-0 run of their own to close out the first twenty minutes, but Indian Hills still led 40-29 going to the lockers.
"I thought we played very consistent defensively, and when you do that, it can feel like you're the team that's in control," Plona said. "When we had them at 40-22, I thought we had played outstanding, and a lot of that was without Curt (Jones). They had that little run at the end of the first half, which is to be expected, so we talked at half and said, okay there's their run, but who's going to make the next one?"
The answer to the coach's question would come from the young men in front of him in that locker room as the Warriors came out and took care of business in the all-important first five minutes after intermission as they went on a 13-3 run, including 11 in a row, and IHCC was up 53-32. The Blackhawks would finally get a bucket of their own, but Jones was back from his first-half foul trouble, and a deep trey from the Minneapolis product gave the Warriors their biggest lead of the night at 56-34 with 14:51 remaining.
"I thought in the second half we did a good job of continuing to defend the entire 20 minutes," Plona added. "No matter who was in there for us, we got just a very consistent effort that would never really let them get on a scoring run. So, when you defend like that, then it can seem like you're in control of the game because the other team gets frustrated, and I thought we kind of did that tonight."
The Blackhawks would claw back to within twelve at 64-52 with 7:47 left to play, but four points from Tyrese Nickelson, a dunk from Chris Payton and triple from Trey Harris pushed the Warrior advantage back to 21 at 73-52 with 5:48 remaining and SCC's season was all but over with.
"I'm really happy for our guys," Plona added. "This is always going to be a complete team effort. We have a special, special group, and I couldn't be more happy and more proud of."
As the clock ran out on the Blackhawks, a familiar scene unfolded at the Hellyer Center with the Warrior players huddled around the circular Region XI plaque that is usually a preliminary box that needs checked in order to achieve larger goals ahead that the program has annually. That being said, Plona was quick to point out that this type of celebration isn't one that's taken lightly.
"We never take this for granted," Plona said. "Every year is different and every journey is different, and this one has been very unique for sure, but we have a really special group that can't play harder and with more passion than this group does, so I'm happy that they've gotten to earn this game to earn the right to go to Hutch. We're really excited to earn the trip up there."
The Warriors were led by sophomore all-American candidate Chris Payton's 20 points and 13 rebounds. It was Payton's thirteenth double-double on the season, and the seventh straight contest he's accomplished the feat.
"I thought Chris was very determined, very dominant tonight," Plona said. "I think Chris is the best player in junior college, and I've thought that since maybe Christmas last year. We're 21-2 now and we were 30-3 last year, so that's 51-5. I'd like to say it's good coaching, but Chris Payton is a huge part of that, so he's had a real special career here. It's sad that more people couldn't see it live and in person this year because of COVID. He is a really special player that capped off an outstanding career at the Hellyer Center tonight."
The other two Warriors that are in their second year with the IHCC program played huge roles in the victory over the Blackhawks as Nickelson tossed in 18 points and Theo Bourgeois continued his late season surge by knocking down a pair of statement 3-pointers in the first ten minutes of the contest.
"Theo and Tyrese both played really well tonight, and I'm happy to see it," Plona said. "Those two have been tremendous all year."
Despite an extended time off the floor in the first half with foul trouble, Jones ended with 13 points followed by Levar Williams with 12
"Levar was very aggressive finding his spots and finding his offense, and we need him to be," Plona added. "Levar hit a couple threes in that first half run that were daggers."
The Warriors will make the 14-hour trek to Glendive on Thursday with hopes of finding their bearings before Saturday's 7 p.m. CDT tipoff at the Toepke Center. IHCC will be looking to secure its eighth straight trip to the National Tournament which will be played April 19-24 in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Region XI Finals
Indian Hills 84, Southeastern 65
1st 2nd TOTAL
Southeastern 29 36 65
Indian Hills 40 44 84