Warriors Clamp Down On Kennedy-King For Comeback Win

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills held visiting Kennedy-King College without a point over the final six minutes of the game and, although they scored only seven points in that span, it was enough to get the Warriors their fourth straight win to start the season.

Dwan McMillan's free throw with 4:12 to play put the Warriors on top, 55-54, and McMillan scored on a drive with 1:18 remaining for the final points in a 57-54 IHCC win.

Kennedy-King led by as many as 11 points in the first half and by seven at halftime. The Statesmen got back-to-back field goals to take a 54-50 lead with over six minutes to play, but went scoreless the rest of the game. Still, they had a chance to tie in the waning seconds, but Jeremy Lee missed a three-point try and the Statesmen missed on a couple of tip-in tries.

McMillan had cut the KKC lead in half at 54-52 before the Warriors' Dijon Farr tied the score with a basket at the 5:10 mark of the second half. From there, both teams struggled offensively.

Byron Board of KKC had a one-and-one opportunity with 4:41 left, but missed the first free throw. McMillan was good on one of his two free throws 29 seconds later for what proved to be the game-winning point.

Kennedy-King used a 16-2 run to open up a 32-21 first-half lead. Reggie Smith, who led all scorers with 21 points, hit three straight field goals in that stretch, part of a 15-point first half for the KKC sophomore. Brandon Garrett's putback for the Warriors made it a seven-point game at halftime.

McMillan and Garrett had consecutive field goals to start the second half for IHCC. Smith drilled two straight threes not long after that, but he wouldn't score again thanks to some strong defensive play by IHCC's Aaron Austin.

Garrett tied the score at 48-all, Lee gave KKC a brief two-point lead, and Austin evened the score at 50, setting the stage for the tense final eight minutes of play.

Farr led Indian Hills with 19 points and McMillan added 15 and Austin 12. Smith was the only player in double figures for the Statesmen.

Indian Hills won despite a dismal night at the free-throw line where they made only 4 of 16 attempts. Kennedy-King shot only six free throws and made only two.

Indian Hills will take on undefeated Ellsworth CC on Saturday night.

INDIAN HILLS 57, KENNEDY-KING 54

INDIAN HILLS Dwan McMillan 6 3-6 15, Aaron Austin 5 0-3 12, Brandon Garrett 3 0-0 6, Bruno Ferreira 0 0-0 0, Chano Rashiduddin 0 0-1 0, Derrick Hill 0 0-0 0, Dijon Farr 9 0-0 19, Larry Stone 0 0-2 0, E.J. Hicks 2 1-4 5 Team 25 4-16 57

KENNEDY-KING Byron Board 2 0-1 4, Brandon Grissette 0 1-2 1, David Croom 2 0-0 4, Jeremy Lee 3 1-2 7, Carmaine McBride 1 0-0 2, Reggie Smith 9 0-0 21, Darrell Blanton 4 0-1 8, Jerrell Mayo 0 0-0 0, Herb Winfield 2 0-0 5, Edmond Love 1 0-0 2 Team 24 2-6 54

Halftime score: Kennedy-King 39, Indian Hills 32; Three-point field goals: IHCC 3 (Austin 2, Farr 1), KKC 4 (Smith 3, Winfield1)