OTTUMWA, IA – No. 6-rated Indian Hills finished arguably the most unusual season in program history Wednesday night with a 66-52 victory over Kirkwood at the Hellyer Center.
The regular-season finale pushed the Warriors to 19-2 heading into the postseason, and despite having most of the squad's goals still ahead of them, IHCC Head Coach Hank Plona took a moment to look back at what IHCC had already accomplished in the most atypical of years.
"It's been a good stretch," Plona admitted. "Obviously we lost our first game (a 60-56 loss at Southwestern), so winning 19 of 20 games after having a lot of people that were affected by COVID in November and December, I think it took us a little while to get to full strength. We've had some injuries. It's just been a strange season."
As strange as it's been, the winning tradition that has been a hallmark of the Indian Hills program for over three decades persevered through all the up and down challenges of the pandemic, so it was fitting that despite some struggles in the season finale, the Warriors found a way to pull away and win another contest.
The first half against Kirkwood was nearl a defensive stalemate as both teams shot well under thirty percent from the field leading to a 25-21 Warrior advantage at the break. Despite the shooting woes, Plona found some positives to take away from the first twenty minutes of play.
"I thought maybe once we started to miss a few shots in the first half, we became hesitant," Plona explained. "When those shots didn't go in, I was still impressed by how we continued to defend. Sometimes when you miss some jump shots, it's easy to kind of put your head down and not get back on defense. I thought we defended and rebounded very well."
If the first five minutes of the second half were any indication, one might have thought that the Warriors were destined to drop their final regular season game at the Hellyer Center as Kirkwood went on a 14-7 run out of the lockers to snag a 35-32 lead with just over 15 minutes to play.
Plona had called timeout to try to turn the Warriors' fortunes, and a change in defensive approach keyed the turnaround.
"We went and played a little old school box-and-one there against Corvon Seales, who kind of makes them go," Plona added. "I think they are at their best when Seales is kind of their lead dog. So we tried to make them run an offense they're not used to running. We tried to slow them down and hesitate, and I thought that worked for us, and for probably that last 12 to 15 minutes of the game, I thought it bothered him for sure."
The other spark to the turnaround was an 18-1 burst from the 15 minute mark on that was keyed by freshman Braxton Bayless, who had ten points during the run, including a pair of three-pointers.
"I've said for several weeks now that once Braxton gets in the game, I have a difficult time finding a reason to take him out," Plona added. "Brax helps us win in so many ways. He defends. He's tough. It was great to see him step up and knock down those shots with confidence."
After the Bayless burst it was 50-36, Warriors, and the hosts had a stranglehold on the situation. The Eagles would get no closer than that 14-point margin over the final ten minutes. IHCC reached its largest advantage at 64-45 with 2:53 left on the clock after a pair of Chris Payton free throws, and all that was left was running out the clock.
IHCC had five players in double figures as Curtis Jones had 13 points, Levar Williams 12, and Payton, Bayless and Tyrese Nickelson all had 10 each. Tyem Freeman added nine points and Taj Anderson had a pair to round out the scoring. Payton had another double-double as the Warrior standout had 12 rebounds to go with his 10 points.
The Warriors had locked up the outright ICCAC regular-season championship on Saturday in Estherville against Iowa Lakes, but Plona and his players waited until Wednesday night's victory to grab a ladder and execute the time-honored tradition of cutting down the nets in front of family and friends on their home court.
One-by-one, all the players and coaches took turns at scissoring off their own threads of the net from the north-end hoop at the Hellyer Center, ending fittingly with Plona making the final cuts to separate the nylon from the iron, and with a quick spin of the net over his head in celebration, Plona descended to look forward to the work ahead.
The postseason begins on Saturday with a 3 p.m. Region XI semifinal against Northeast. The Warriors defeated the Hawks twice in February, 115-63 on the 6th of the month in Ottumwa, and 108-86 on the 27th in Norfolk, Nebraska.
"I'm sure Northeast will give it everything they've got," Plona said. "I think every team this time of year plays with a little sense of urgency because it will be the end. This year has been so difficult for so many people, and I think everybody kind of enjoys playing basketball. To me it's not just an escape or get-away, but it's what these kids like to do, so I'm sure Northeast will come in with a great effort."
With last week's move in the NJCAA polls from the ten spot to the sixth slot, it would seem that Indian Hills would be in a prime position for one of the eight at large bids to the 24-team National Tournament regardless of the outcome of the Regional and District Tournament, but the Warriors will take nothing for granted.
"Our guys are excited," Plona said. "I think they wanted to make sure that they gave Indian Hills, our fans, our community, themselves and their families everything they have. I know Chris, Tyrese, Theo and Tye were excited to go (to Hutchinson) last year, and we didn't get the chance. It's our goal every year, and obviously, I think they're very excited to get to playoff time here Saturday, and hopefully Tuesday, and then hopefully next Saturday to see what we can do."
Saturday's winner at the Hellyer Center will face either No. 2-seed Southeastern or third-seeded Marshalltown on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the home of the highest seed remaining. IHCC is the top seed and Northeast in seeded fourth. Tuesday's Region XI champion will travel to face the winner of Region XIII's MonDak Conference to battle for the automatic NJCAA bid, which will be either at Dawson (20-2) in Glendive, Montana, or at North Dakota State College of Science (15-6) in Wahpeton, North Dakota.
Plona promised there would be no look-past factor with Northeast on Saturday,
"I have a lot of experience as far as knowing that Northeast is going to show up," Plona concluded. "The last time we played these guys in the postseason was 2018 and we were 30-0 in the regular season and we beat them in the semifinal, 82-80. We'll need to be ready to go Saturday afternoon."
INDIAN HILLS 66, Kirkwood 52
1st 2nd TOTAL
Kirkwood 21 31 52
Indian Hills 25 41 66