Stone's Big Plays Lead to IHCC Revenge

Ottumwa, IA -- Sophomore guard Larry Stone made a series of clutch plays and big shots over the final two-and-a-half minutes to allow Indian Hills to avenge an earlier loss and defeat Mineral Area College, 52-49, at the Hellyer Center on Wednesday night in the final game of the Courtside Bar & Grill Classic.

Stone's three-pointer with 2:10 left to play gave the Warriors a lead they wouldn't relinquish. That trey made it 48-46. Stone then dove on a loose ball and called timeout to save the possession for the Warriors. A pair of free throws by the Indianapolis, Indiana native put the Warriors ahead 50-46 with 1:26 remaining.

After Mineral Area made three free throws in the final 62 seconds to shave the IHCC lead to one point, it was Stone who, fittingly enough, drained two more free throws with 6.1 seconds left to provide the final margin.

Stone ended the night with a game-high 12 points and five steals for the Warriors, who had dropped a double-overtime decision at Mineral Area last month.

The rematch was close throughout. The largest lead was a six-point advantage for Mineral Area following an 11-1 run in the first half. Indian Hills led briefly at 12-11 after an E.J. Hicks free throw, but Carlton Guyton put the Cardinals back on top with a three and MAC kept the lead the rest of the half. Guyton's three right before the first-half buzzer sent the Cards off at halftime up by four points.

Chano Rashiduddin scored three straight field goals for the Warriors to start the second half, the last of which tied the game at 26. There would be four more ties and four lead changes after that.

IHCC's Dijon Farr completed a three-point play to give the Warriors their largest lead at 41-36 with 6:20 to play. Al Rapier put MAC on top, 46-45, with a free throw with 2:40 left before Stone's late-game heroics allowed the Warriors to come from behind and win their 14th game of the year.

The loss snapped an 11-game winning streak for Mineral Area. Their leading scorers, Guyton and Martell Anderson, each had 10 points.

The Warriors will make it three games in as many days when they host Western Nebraska on Thursday at 5:00. WNCC has split two games so far on their trip to Ottumwa, losing 81-77 to Mineral Area before pounding Olive-Harvey, 85-50, on Wednesday night.

INDIAN HILLS 52, MINERAL AREA 49

INDIAN HILLS Dwan McMillan 3 1-1 9, Aaron Austin 0 0-0 0, Brandon Garrett 3 3-5 9, Bruno Ferreira 1 0-0 2, Chano Rashiduddin 4 0-0 8, Derrick Hill 1 0-0 3, Dijon Farr 2 1-1 5, Larry Stone 3 4-4 12, E.J. Hicks 1 1-2 4, Chad Dillard 0 0-0 0 Team 18 10-14 52

MINERAL AREA Bobby Peebles 3 1-2 7, Drew Thomas 0 0-0 0, Carlton Guyton 4 0-0 10, Demetrius Harris 4 1-2 9, Josh Minner 0 0-0 0, Al Rapier 0 1-2 1, Kaleb Wright 2 2-2 6, Martell Anderson 4 0-1 10, C.J. Crittendon 0 0-1 0, Antonio Campbell 0 0-0 0, Riley Ralston 2 0-0 6, Edwin Shorter 0 0-0 0 Team 19 5-10 49

Halftime score: Mineral Area 24, Indian Hills 20; Three-point field goals: IHCC 6 (McMillan, Stone 2, Hill, Hicks 1), MAC (Ralston, Guyton, Anderson 2)