Second-Half Rally Leads to Warrior Victory

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills used an early second-half run to take control and the Warriors went on to defeat Kennedy-King 75-64 in the Klyn Automotive Classic on Friday night.

Indian Hills overcame a slow start in the first half, but still trailed at halftime 24-23. IHCC scored the first six points after halftime to go ahead for good and a 19-8 run came in the first eight minutes of the second half, fueled by seven points from Trey Starks.

Kennedy-King cut the deficit to six points, but Starks made two free throws and then scored on a fast-break layup after a blocked shot by Dijon Farr to build the lead back to 10 midway through the second half. The lead was as large as 16 points after a tip-in by Stephen Coles.

Two big 3's by Gary Ricks, Jr. were part of a 19-point second-half for the freshman guard. Ricks made eight straight free throws in the second half and was 12-of-14 for the game. He led all scorers with 23 points.

The Warriors won on a night when their usually reliable three-point shooting failed them. They made only 2-of-11 from behind the arc, but made up for it with 19-of-22 free-throw shooting in the second half.

Farr had his best scoring night of the season with 19 for the Warriors. Demerius Smith matched that total to lead the Statesmen.

Indian Hills concludes play in the tournament on Saturday night against John Wood CC.

INDIAN HILLS 75, KENNEDY-KING 64

INDIAN HILLS Stephen Coles 3 1-1 7, Jerome Jones 3 2-4 8, Derrick Hill 1 0-0 2, Dijon Farr 7 4-4 19, Kelvyn Valdez 0 0-0 0, Trey Starks 3 3-5 9, Bruno Ferreira 0 2-3, 2, Chad Dillard 2 1-1 5, Gary Ricks, Jr. 5 12-14 23 Team 24 25-32 75

KENNEDY-KING Brandon Caruthers 4 2-3 12, Demarko Nash 1 0-0 3, Camron Bailey 1 1-1 3, Jerrel Mayo 4 0-2 10, Demerius Smith 6 2-4 19, Pauldeairis Howard 0 0-0 0, Terron Ferrell 0 0-0 0, Trent Little John 3 3-4 9, Michael Zeigler 1 0-0 3, Kevin Batson 1 0-0 2, Codelro Means 2 0-0 4 Team 23 8-14 64

Halftime score: Kennedy-King 24, Indian Hills 23; Three-point field goals: IHCC 2 (Farr 1, Ricks 1), KKC 10 (Smith 5, Caruthers 2, Mayo 1, Nash 1, Zeigler 1)