McKay Helps Warriors Take First Step

Ottumwa -- Freshman Jameel McKay ignited a 21-6 second-half run with one of his eight field goals in the half and the Indian Hills Warriors stayed unbeaten at home with an 81-68 win over Iowa Western in the first game of the best-of-three Region 11 championship series.

McKay's basket came after Iowa Western's Wil Martinez hit a 3-pointer with just under eight minutes remaining to bring the Reivers to within three at 56-53. The goal by Martinez represented the only bench points the entire game for Iowa Western, whose bench was outscored by the Warriors' reserves, 25-3.

McKay had a season-high 26 points, 17 of them in the second half, and also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Devin Brooks, Antonio Levy and Alonzo Traylor combined for 60 of the Reivers' 68 points. Iowa Western's season scoring leader, Xavier Munford, was held to five points, about 12 under his average.

Gary Ricks, Jr. hit consecutive 3s in the first half to give IHCC a lead it would never relinquish. McKay followed the triples with a field goal and Indian Hills had used a quick 8-0 burst to go ahead, 14-8.

With Iowa Western down 25-22, the Warriors went on a 14-4 run to take their biggest lead of the first half. Five different IHCC players scored in that run which was capped by a three by Roderick Bobbitt.

After Indian Hills took a 41-35 halftime lead, both teams really struggled offensively at the outset of the second half. Neither scored for almost three minutes with a flurry of missed shots and turnovers plaguing both teams.

Brooks finally broke the ice for Iowa Western, but McKay quickly answered for the Warriors.

McKay's teammates did a great job of setting him up for easy buckets in the second half. Brandon Spearman fed him for a dunk and a six-point lead, right before Martinez's three-pointer. Then, during the game-deciding run, Bobbitt got a steal and led McKay with a perfect pass for a fast-break jam.

Bobbitt added 15 points for the Warriors. Brooks led the Reivers with 25.

The series resumes in Council Bluffs on Wednesday night. The Reivers have lost only once on their homecourt this season, a 91-85 loss to Indian Hills in late January.

INDIAN HILLS 81, IOWA WESTERN 68

INDIAN HILLS Brandon Spearman 3 3-7 9, Gary Ricks, Jr. 2 2-2 8, DeAndray Buckley 0 0-0 0, Michael Haynes 2 0-2 4, D.J. Bennett 3 0-0 6, Jameel McKay 12 2-7 26, Roderick Bobbitt 6 1-1 15, Dustin Hogue 3 0-2 6, Ronnie Stevens 1 0-0 2, Trinson White 1 0-0 3, Gary Ross 0 2-2 2 Team 33 10-23 81

IOWA WESTERN Xavier Munford 1 2-2 5, Alonzo Traylor 7 2-6 16, Devin Brooks 8 6-7 25, Kelvin Dixon 0 0-0 0, Antonio Levy 7 5-7 19, Bernard Brame 0 0-0 0, Wil Martinez 1 0-0 3, Tavian Pomlee 0 0-0 0, Brock Lutes 0 0-0 0 Team 24 15-22 68

Halftime score: Indian Hills 41, Iowa Western 35; Three-point field goals: IHCC 5 (Ricks, Bobbitt 2; White 1), IWCC 5 (Brooks 3; Munford, Martinez 1)