MARSHALLTOWN — The Indian Hills Warriors have proven during the early part of the 2011-12 basketball season that they are a hard team to keep up with, given the No. 4-ranked team’s high-powered offense and relentless pressure defense. St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy found out Saturday night in the Emerson JUCO Challenge that your odds of keeping pace with the Warriors when you are playing your third game in roughly 24 hours are almost nil.
The Warriors ran away from St. John’s over the final part of the first half, led by 24 points at intermission and rolled to a 122-73 win that pushed IHCC’s season-opening winning streak to 10 games.
St. John’s, located in Delafield, Wis., had lost to Kirkwood CC in a late game on Friday and, in a strange bit of scheduling by those who put together the matchups for the weekend’s games, came back and played the noon game on Saturday. In that contest, they defeated Iowa Lakes CC, 90-78. But the Lancers got run out of the gym when they took on the Warriors just six hours after their first game of the day had concluded.
Indian Hills used an 11-0 run in the first half to take control. The Warriors then closed the half with a 29-11 spurt to go on top, 61-37, at halftime. For good measure, Indian Hills tacked on 61 more points in the second half to record their highest-scoring game of the season.
It was the fifth time in 10 games that IHCC has eclipsed the century mark in scoring. Their offensive average is at 100.8 points a game.
The 11-straight points by the Warriors early in the game was followed by three three-point plays by St. John’s over the next two minutes as the Lancers eventually cut the deficit to 32-26.
Gary Ricks, Jr., who led the Warriors in 3-pointers last year with 73, had gotten off to a slow start from behind the arc in his sophomore campaign. Ricks found his long-range stroke earlier in the week when he drilled five 3s in a road win at Ellsworth. And he picked up where he left off in that game with four first-half 3s against St. John’s.
Ricks had three consecutive three-pointers as the Warriors closed the opening half with a rush.
Freshman guard Roderick Bobbitt got Indian Hills off to a flying start in the second half with back-to-back 3s and the Warriors steadily pulled away from the fatigued Lancers.
Indian Hills’ first four baskets of the second half were treys and they connected on a season-high 13 for the game, with seven different players making at least one shot from long range.
Freshman Dustin Hogue led the Warriors with 20 points and he had five teammates join him in double figures. Freshman Jameel McKay chipped in 18 points and Ricks equaled his season-high with 15.
The win came in the fourth-straight road game for IHCC. The next six games will all be played at home, starting with three games in five days this week. Next up is a battle with Kirkwood on Tuesday night. Kirkwood defeated St. John’s, 59-42, Friday night in Marshalltown, but the Lancers didn’t play their five regular starters who were suspended for the contest.
The Warriors will host the PCS Classic at the Hellyer Center this weekend and their Saturday night foe will be Howard (Texas) College, ranked 13th in the latest NJCAA poll.
No. 4 Indian Hills 122, St. John’s Military Academy 73
INDIAN HILLS (122) – Brandon Spearman 4 0-1 10, Gary Ricks, Jr. 4 3-4 15, DeAndray Buckley 4 3-8 12, D.J. Bennett 1 1-2 3, Kieran Woods 4 0-2 8, Jameel McKay 7 4-6 18, Roderick Bobbitt 4 1-2 12, Dustin Hogue 9 1-4 20, Ronnie Stevens 2 3-3 7, Trinson White 3 1-1 8, Devin Delaney 2 0-1 5, Rawane Ndiaye 2 0-1 4 Team 46 FG 17-35 122
ST. JOHN’S MILITARY ACADEMY (73) – Jacoby Davis 3 0-1 7, Jeremiah Jones 3 7-8 14, Logan Mortenson 5 3-3 14, Aaron Ross 5 3-3 14, Andy Martin 2 0-2 4, Josh Hall 0 1-2 1, Mike Lang 0 0-2 0, Quinn Williams 1 0-0 2, D.J. Mlachnik 1 4-4 6, Wes Koral 1 2-3 4, Charles Rushman 0 3-4 3, Stephan Lambert 0 1-2 1, Miles Holmes 0 2-2 2 Team 21 27-37 73
Halftime score: Indian Hills 61, St. John’s 37; Three-point field goals: IHCC 13 (Ricks 4; Bobbitt 3; Spearman 2; Buckley, Hogue, White, Delaney 1), SJNMA 4 (Davis, Jones, Mortenson, Ross 1)
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