Warriors Can Relax in Homecourt Win

Ottumwa -- Five of the last six games played by the Indian Hills Warriors weren't decided until the final minute. The Warriors made sure, with their pressure defense and three-point shooting, that wouldn't be the case on Wednesday night. Indian Hills raced away to a 24-point halftime lead and won going away, mauling visiting New Creations, 101-58, at the Hellyer Center.

New Creations led briefly in the early going as big men Walter Pitchford and Junior McLeod had success scoring inside against IHCC. But the Flyers' 16-13 lead quickly disappeared as the Warriors went on a 14-0 run to take control.

Brandon Garrett's slam dunk off a feed by Aaron Austin put the Warriors ahead for good at 17-16. Garrett scored again and E.J. Hicks drained a three-pointer to start the IHCC surge.

After Melvin Tillman made two free throws for New Creations, Indian Hills had a 24-9 run to end the first half.

Indian Hills repeatedly forced turnovers with their full-court press and the Warriors found the range shooting over the top of the Flyers' zone defense.

Austin and Dwan McMillan made consecutive three-pointers to start the second-half scoring and Larry Stone and McMillan added two more 3's a little later as the Warriors eventually built the advantage to 48 points.

Indian Hills hit seven three-pointers in the second half and tied a season-high with 11 for the game. The Warriors also got seven steals from McMillan and eight assists from Austin in winning their second game in a row following a three-game losing streak.

McMillan eclipsed his previous season high by one with 19 points to lead five IHCC players in double figures. Hicks scored 11 points off the bench and nailed three 3's for the Warriors.

Indian Hills will host the Hy-Vee Classic this weekend with games against the College of Lake County (Ill.) on Friday night and Kirkwood CC on Saturday. The Warriors will be trying to avenge an earlier loss to Kirkwood that started IHCC on its three-game slide. Game time both nights will be 7:00 after a 4:30 first game.

INDIAN HILLS 101, NEW CREATIONS 58

INDIAN HILLS Dwan McMillan 7 2-2 19, Aaron Austin 6 0-0 14, Brandon Garrett 4 2-4 12, Bruno Ferreira 2 0-2 4, Chano Rashiduddin 3 1-2 7, Derrick Hill 0 2-2 2, Dijon Farr 4 1-1 9, Larry Stone 4 0-0 11, Brian Wilson 3 1-3 7, E.J. Hicks 4 0-0 11, Alex Vouyoukas 2 0-0 4, Chad Dillard 0 1-2 1, Erik Eckhardt 0 0-0 0 Team 40 10-18 101

NEW CREATIONS Lee Hassan 1 0-0 2, Niels Moons 0 0-0 0, Phil Bond 2 0-0 4, Hayden Annett 1 0-0 2, Greg Tillman 1 0-0 2, Adbul Osman 0 2-2 2, Junior McLeod 4 3-4 11, Denham Buchanon 0 2-3 2, Melvin Tillman 3 5-5 12, Devaughn Cole Rodney 2 2-3 6, Walter Pitchford 6 3-3 15 Team 20 17-20 58

Halftime score: Indian Hills 51, New Creations 27; Three-point field goals: IHCC 11 (McMillan 3, Stone 3, Hicks 3, Austin 2), NC 1 (M. Tillman 1)