Men's Basketball

FIVE WARRIORS EARN ALL-REGION XI HONORS

FIVE WARRIORS EARN ALL-REGION XI HONORS
Posted: Feb 28, 2022

Ottumwa, IA – Five members of the Indian Hills Men's Basketball team have been named to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Men's Basketball All-Region XI team. The Warriors earned a pair of first-team selections after winning the NJCAA Region XI Championship.

Sophomores Taj Anderson (Queens, NY/Quality Education) and J'Vonne Hadley (St. Paul, MN/Northeastern) received All-Region first-team honors while sophomore guard Braxton Bayless (Ankeny, IA/Ankeny) was named to the second-team. Sophomore Davin Zeigler (Cleveland, OH/Bowling Green) and freshman Enoch Kalambay (Gatineau, Canada/Orangeville Prep) earned Honorable Mention honors for the Warriors.

Along with the five All-Region selections, Hadley was named the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) DI Men's Basketball Player of the Year while head coach Hank Plona was named ICCAC DI Men's Basketball Coach of the Year.

HADLEY NAMED ICCAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR

PLONA NAMED ICCAC COACH OF THE YEAR

The Warriors were crowned NJCAA Region XI champions after claiming the postseason championship from Southeastern Community College while sharing the regular season title. The Warriors, who sit at 26-5 overall, will host the upcoming NJCAA North Central District Championship at 7:00 PM on Saturday, March 5 at the Hellyer Center.

Anderson, a two-year member of the Warriors, received his second All-Region selection after earning a second-team nod a year ago. Anderson led the Warriors in scoring in 2021-22 with 12.2 points per game. The sophomore ranked third in the ICCAC with 69 three-point shots made on the year and went for double-digits in 17 of the 24 games the guard appeared in. Anderson boasted a career-high 31 point performance in a win over Vincennes University (IN) on Nov. 24.

Hadley claimed four ICCAC DI Athlete of the Week honors for the Warriors, all coming within a six-week stretch, including three in a row from Jan. 18 – Feb. 1. The sophomore took over in the second half of the season, a key reason for the Warriors' 12 consecutive wins. Hadley currently ranks second on the team with 10.8 points per game while shooting 53.8 percent from the field. Hadley leads the team with 6.1 rebounds per contest and has added 2.2 assists per game.

Bayless led the Warriors primarily from the point guard spot in his second year in Ottumwa. Bayless averaged 9.0 points per game and a team-high 4.1 assists per contest while leading the Warriors with an 84.3 percent clip from the free throw line, the top mark in the ICCAC. Bayless scored in double-digits 14 times on the year, including 14 and the game-winning buzzer-beater to knock off No. 7 Southeastern on the road.

In Zeigler's first season at Indian Hills, the guard led the Warriors with a 40.3 mark from three-point range on the year while averaging 7.8 points per contest. Zeigler appeared in all 31 games for the Warriors with eight starts. The sophomore posted a career-high 24 points in a win over Carl Sandburg College on Feb. 7.

On a team loaded with sophomore experience, Kalambay stood out during his freshman campaign for the Warriors. Kalambay posted 12 games in double-figures, including a span of all six games in the month of December where he was awarded ICCAC Athlete of the Week honors. Kalambay averaged 9.3 points per game on the year while shooting 50.5 percent from the floor. The freshman scored 17 points in the NJCAA Region XI title game.

Plona has now coached 30 All-Region XI selections during his seven-year tenure at Indian Hills and have had at least two players represented on the first-team each year.

Fans can reserve their seats to the NJCAA North Central District Championship here: NJCAA NORTH CENTRAL DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS

Fans can also view the game live via GoHillsTV.