Friday, March 12, 2010

IHCC Has Five on All-Region Teams

Ottumwa -- Regular-season conference champion Indian Hills Community College had one player on the first team, one on the second team and three on the honorable mention list of the All-Region 11 basketball team announced by the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference.

The Warriors’ Larry Stone was the lone IHCC player on the five-player first team. Stone, a sophomore guard from Indianapolis and a transfer from IUPUI, was the second-leading scorer for Indian Hills with an 11.3 average. He also led the team in three-point field goals with 57.

Stone really came on in the second half of the season. He averaged 16.8 points a game in conference games, fourth in the league. Stone’s scoring average over the last half of the season was 15.0 and he scored in double figures in 13 of his final 15 games. His high game of 28 points came in a road win at Southeastern in the regular-season finale.

IHCC’s season scoring leader, Dijon Farr, was a second-team all-conference choice. Farr, from Pacolet, S.C., started all 33 games in his freshman campaign and averaged 11.9 points a contest. He was seventh in scoring in conference games (11.7) and also scored 10 or more points in 13 of his last 15 games. For the season, he reached double-figure scoring in 24 of 33 games. Farr also averaged nearly four rebounds a game.

The Warriors making the honorable mention all-league list were sophomore guards Dwan McMillan and Aaron Austin and freshman forward Bruno Ferreira.

McMillan, a Brooklyn, N.Y. native, averaged 9.9 points a game and led the team in assists. Austin, from Newport News, Va., was third on the Warriors in scoring at 10.6 and was second in assists. Ferreira is from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was IHCC’s leading rebounder, averaging over five boards a game, and also averaged five points a contest.

Joining Stone on the all-conference first team are sophomores Norvell Arnold and Steven Baker from Southeastern, and freshman Tyler Brown and sophomore Will Clyburn from Marshalltown. Clyburn led Region XI in scoring in conference games at 22.2 and Arnold was second at 20.8.

The second team includes Anthony Salter, Shay Shine and Petey Hausley, all from Iowa Western, and Southeastern’s Jeron Lee along with the Warriors’ Farr.

Named honorable mention all-league are Henrique Medeiros, DeMarcus Phillips and Michael Appel from Marshalltown, Rinaldo Mafra and Paris Gulley of Southeastern and Charlie Westbrook from Iowa Western in addition to the trio of Indian Hills players.

SCC’s Arnold was a repeat selection on the all-conference first team. Shine dropped from the first team last year to second team this year. The other first-team pick from last year who returned this season was Marshalltown’s Phillips who missed all but one regular-season conference game with an injury. IHCC All-Americans Dwight Buycks and Dwight Hardy were the other first-team choices last year.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Ruple's Basket Gives SCC Series Win

West Burlington, IA -- For the second year in a row, the Indian Hills Warriors were denied a chance to add a Region 11 postseason championship to their regular season title. And for the second consecutive season, archrival Southeastern CC was the team that kept the Warriors from the postseason crown.

Freshman Abby Ruple's layup with 5.4 seconds to play was the game-winner on Wednesday night as SCC pulled out a 62-60 win over Indian Hills (25-8) in the second game of the best-of-three regional title series.

The Warriors pushed the ball up the court following Ruple's basket, but E.J. Hicks misfired on a three-point attempt that would have won the game.

Instead, it's the BlackHawks (23-10) who move on to play in the District 11 championship game next Tuesday night on their home court.

Indian Hills and Southeastern had struggled to make shots in Game 1 of the series on Monday night, a 53-49 SCC win.

Both offenses were much more efficient on Wednesday. Southeastern shot 58.5% for the game and was even better than that from 3-point range -- 66.7% (8-of-12). The Warriors made 52.4% of their field goals and 7-of-15 3s (46.7%). Each team had only 11 turnovers.

Indian Hills took its final lead on the 7th lead change of the game when Hicks made one of two free throws with 3:15 remaining to make the score 56-55.

Steven Baker, who along with Paris Gulley led SCC with 14 points, then hit a jumper in the lane and followed with two free throws to put the BlackHawks on top 59-56.

Aaron Austin, IHCC's top scorer with 19, hit an acrobatic shot in the lane to bring the Warriors to within one. After an SCC free throw the Warriors had the ball with 29.8 seconds to play.

Following two straight IHCC time-outs, Larry Stone scored from the right baseline, his only points of the game, to knot the score at 60-all.

Southeastern called their final time out with 16.4 seconds left to set up the play on which Ruple scored the game-winner.

Indian Hills had two six-point leads in the first half, the largest advantage for either team in the game. Dwan McMillan, one of six Indian Hills sophs who saw their IHCC careers come to a close, scored on a three-point play to end the first-half scoring and put the Warriors ahead, 37-33, at the half.

Indian Hills had six threes in the first half along with two old-fashioned three-point plays and three free throws by Hicks after he was fouled on a three-point try.

SCC was down at halftime despite making nearly 61% of their field goal attempts. And the BlackHawks' leading scorer, Norvell Arnold, sat out most of the first half after getting two early fouls.

Arnold started the second half with three field goals in less than four minutes to bring SCC from behind. He wouldn't score again however and fouled out with 6:15 to play.

IHCC trailed briefly by four points, but Austin drained a three to cut the deficit to one and neither team led by more than three points the rest of the game.

Two free throws by Dijon Farr gave Indian Hills a 55-53 lead with a little under five minutes left, and it was Baker who tied the score at 55 for SCC. Hicks' free throw preceded Baker's four straight points and set the stage for the tense final two minutes.

Indian Hills outrebounded the BlackHawks, 25-20, and SCC, amazingly, had only three offensive rebounds the entire game. But SCC still managed to break the hearts of the Warriors, just as they had done in last year's title series when they scored in the final seconds to down IHCC in overtime.

SOUTHEASTERN 62, INDIAN HILLS 60

SOUTHEASTERN A.D. Simmons 1 0-0 2, Steven Baker 5 3-4 14, Norvell Arnold 3 0-0 7, Mason Leggett 0 0-0 0, Paris Gulley 5 0-0 14, Jeron Lee 2 1-2 6, Rinaldo Mafra 1 0-0 2, Abby Ruple 4 0-0 9, Mansa Habeeb 3 2-6 8 Team 24 6-12 62

INDIAN HILLS Dwan McMillan 3 3-6 10, Aaron Austin 8 0-0 19, Brandon Garrett 1 0-0 2, Bruno Ferreira 1 0-0 2, Dijon Farr 6 2-3 17, Larry Stone 1 0-2 2, Brian Wilson 2 0-0 4, E.J. Hicks 0 4-5 4, Chad Dillard 0 0-0 0 Team 22 9-16 60

Halftime score: Indian Hills 37, Southeastern 33; Three-point field goals: SCC 8 (Gulley 4, Baker 1, Arnold 1, Lee 1, Ruple 1), IHCC 7 (Austin 3, Farr 3, McMillan 1)

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

SCC Gains Upper Hand in Region 11 Series

Ottumwa, IA -- Heading into the postseason, Southeastern had won only three road games all year. Now, less than a week later, the BlackHawks are just one win away from the Region 11 postseason championship after two straight victories away from home.

On Monday night, Southeastern used a 16-1 second-half run to erase a 10-point deficit and down Indian Hills, 53-49, at the Hellyer Center in Ottumwa in the first game of the best-of-three regional title series.

SCC had won at Iowa Western last Wednesday to gain a spot in the series against Indian Hills, the regular season conference champ.

Both teams struggled to score all night long, but the Warriors looked like they had finally gotten untracked when they took a 43-33 lead on a three-pointer by Dijon Farr with around eight minutes to play.

Reserve Mansa Habeeb started SCC's game-deciding rally with a layup and Jeron Lee ended it with a three-pointer for a 49-44 BlackHawk lead with just over two minutes remaining.

Indian Hills went nearly seven minutes without a field goal. Larry Stone finally broke the drought with a three to bring the Warriors to within 49-47. After SCC's Abby Ruple made one of two free throws, Stone had a chance to tie the game, but his three-pointer was off the mark.

Southeastern made three of four foul shots to nail down the win and take a big first step toward what they hope will be their second postseason series win in as many years.

SCC's Norvell Arnold, the second-leading scorer in the conference, was held to only seven points. But Arnold had a key tip-in, one of his two field goals, to tie the game at 44 after his two free throws had made it 44-42, part of SCC's big run in the final minutes.

The Warriors were held to their second-lowest scoring total of the season and made only 31% of their field goal attempts. Southeastern wasn't much better at 35%.

The first half saw very little offense, especially early. The score was 14-11 with a little under five minutes to go in the half. Stone hit a three to give IHCC a six-point lead, but SCC quickly tied it at 17 on three straight points by Arnold and a three-pointer by Lee.

That was the first of four straight 3's as the shots finally started to fall. Paris Gulley's trey gave SCC a 23-20 advantage. Farr brought IHCC to within a point at halftime with a spinning baseline drive at the end of the half.

An 11-2 Indian Hills run to start the second half featured back-to-back goals by Stone, who led the Warriors with 14 points, a three by Farr and a putback by Aaron Austin.

Two free throws by Lee allowed Southeastern to cut the lead to six and that's when the Warriors' free throw shooting woes started. On five consecutive trips to the line, they made one and missed one, then Dwan McMillan missed both shots with four minutes to play.

Arnold had averaged 28 points in the two regular season meetings with IHCC, but was held in check by the Warrior defense. Lee was the only double-figure scorer for the BlackHawks with 14.

McMillan had 12 and Farr 10 to go along with Stone's 14 for Indian Hills.

The Warriors are now faced with a must-win situation for game two, in West Burlington on Wednesday. They can take a little comfort in knowing that they already have a victory there this year, winning 74-70 in the final regular season game on Feb. 20. IHCC has won on two of their last three trips to Loren Walker Arena, but SCC has now won three straight at the Hellyer Center.

Indian Hills has to win to send the series to a third game, which would be played on Friday night on the Warriors' home court.

SOUTHEASTERN 53, INDIAN HILLS 49

SOUTHEASTERN A.D. Simmons 0 0-0 0, Steven Baker 4 0-0 9, Norvell Arnold 2 3-4 7, Mason Leggett 0 0-0 0, Paris Gulley 2 2-2 8, Jeron Lee 4 3-4 14, Rinaldo Mafra 0 0-0 0, Abby Ruple 2 3-4 7, Mansa Habeeb 4 0-0 8 Team 18 11-17 53

INDIAN HILLS Dwan McMillan 4 3-8 12, Aaron Austin 2 0-0 5, Brandon Garrett 0 0-0 0, Bruno Ferreira 0 0-0 0, Derrick Hill 0 0-0 0, Dijon Farr 3 2-2 10, Larry Stone 4 4-6 14, Brian Wilson 1 0-0 2, E.J. Hicks 2 1-2 6, Chad Dillard 0 0-0 0 Team 16 10-18 49

Halftime score: Southeastern 23, Indian Hills 22; Three-point field goals: SCC 6 (Lee 3, Gulley 2, Baker 1), IHCC 7 (Farr 2, Stone 2, McMillan 1, Austin 1, Hicks 1)