Postseason Ban Ends Warriors' Season

Ottumwa -- The National Junior College Athletic Association Monday denied an appeal submitted by Indian Hills Community College and upheld a ruling that prohibits IHCC from playing any postseason basketball games.

The postseason ban was issued for a violation of NJCAA rules committed by Indian Hills stemming from incidents that occurred following the Warriors' game at Southeastern CC on Feb. 16.  An on-court melee after that game resulted in IHCC's Ronald Ross being arrested.

Ross was jailed after his arrest and was released after IHCC president Dr. Jim Lindenmayer posted bail for Ross.  Dr. Lindenmayer subsequently self-reported the violation on the Tuesday following the game after he was made aware of an NJCAA rule that prohibits college officials from posting bail for a student-athlete.

Indian Hills had five players suspended for their actions in the moments after the SCC game and all of those players were forced to sit out the Warriors' final two regular season games.

The NJCAA ban on Indian Hills' playing in the postseason was handed down last week with the organization then issuing its ruling against IHCC's appeal of the penalty on Monday.

This is a statement from Dr. Lindenmayer following Monday's announcement:

“Late Saturday (Feb. 16), after everyone was on their way home, I bailed a student-athlete out of jail. I was unaware of the rule, but I knew that I did not want to leave a player behind at an out-of-town facility under those circumstances.  I feel strongly that when we leave our campus with students in our care it is our duty to return them safely to campus.  This is what I would expect of any staff member and what I would expect as a parent of a child under college supervision.  I feel the penalty is very harsh, especially in light of our record for following NJCAA rules.  I sincerely apologize to our fans and the entire Indian Hills community.  Coach Peery, his staff and players have worked very hard on this great season. Obviously this was a very unfortunate incident with lots of regrets from many people. “

The Warriors end their season with a 26-4 record.  They won the conference championship with a 7-1 mark and had the second-highest offensive average of any Division I school, scoring 97.9 points a game.  Indian Hills was ranked third in the NJCAA poll that was released following the double-overtime win over Southeastern, their 12th consecutive victory, a season high.

Warriors Closes Regular Season With Loss to MCC

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills saw its long home court winning streak come to an end Saturday night in a 88-78 loss to Marshalltown CC in the final regular season game for both teams.  The defeat, coupled with a road loss at Moberly on Tuesday, also gave the Warriors (26-4, 7-1) back-to-back losses for the first time in two years.

It was the first time in 37 home games under second-year coach Barret Peery that IHCC failed to get a  victory.  And it was the only defeat in eight regular season conference games for the Warriors.

Marshalltown (22-8, 3-5) was in control virtually the entire game in avenging an earlier loss to Indian Hills that was accomplished when IHCC's Ronald Ross drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer.  Ross was one of five Warriors who missed the MCC game, serving the second game of suspensions handed down after the SCC game a week before.

Indian Hills took their first lead in this contest against the Tigers when Martin Dixon-Green, making his first start of the season, hit a 3-pointer for a 13-12 score.  The Warriors' Jameel McKay, who was superb with 21 points and 16 rebounds, later tied the score at 17-all.

An 18-7 run allowed MCC to go ahead by 11 and the Tigers took a 40-34 lead at intermission.

After trailing by nine points early in the second half, Indian Hills managed to tie the score three times, the last at 51-51.  Chris Caird's jump shot gave MCC the lead, part of a 17-point second half for theTiger sophomore. 

Marshalltown would eventually stretch the advantage to 12 points at 74-62.  Indian Hills rallied to within four at 79-75 on a basket by Jelan Kendrick with 1:22 to play, but couldn't get any closer and MCC sealed the win at the free throw line.

Caird's 21 points led the Tigers, whose biggest contribution may have come from Jamal Gatali, who hit five 3s and scored 20 points.  Frank Williams added 17 to McKay's 21 points for the Warriors.

MARSHALLTOWN 88, INDIAN HILLS 78

INDIAN HILLS

Jameel McKay 8 5-6 21, Trinson White 4 0-0 11, Jelan Kendrick 5 2-3 12, Frank Williams 7 0-0 17, Gary Williams, Jr. 2 4-6 8, Martin Dixon-Green 2 0-0 5, Majok Deng 2 0-0 4 Gary Ross 0 0-0 0 Team 30 11-15 78

MARSHALLTOWN

Rahiem Holloway 3 2-3 8, Matej Delinac 2 5-6 11, Chris Caird 6 7-8 21, Jamal Gatali 7 1-2 20, Troidell Carter 6 0-0 12, Cameron Robinson 2 4-6 8, Jamyles Coleman 0 0-0 0 Lamont Adair 4 0-0 8  Team 30 19-25 88

Halftime score: Marshalltown 40, Indian Hills 34; Three-point field goals: MCC 9 (Gatali 5; Delinac, Caird 2), IHCC 7 (White, F. Williams 3; Dixon-Green 1)

 

Short-Handed IHCC Falls at Moberly

Moberly, Mo. -- Indian Hills saw its 12-game winning streak snapped and suffered only its third loss of the season on Tuesday night when the Moberly Greyhounds slammed the Warriors, 84-64.

Moberly (22-7) pulled away from a 2-2 tie to lead by as many as 17 points in the first half.  The Warriors (26-3) finally got going offensively in the latter stages of the half and cut the deficit to 38-30 by halftime.

Indian Hills had just eight players available for the game with five IHCC squad members serving the first game of suspensions handed down by the conference office as a result of last Saturday's post-game fracas at Southeastern.

After showing signs of life at the end of the opening half, the Warriors couldn't get closer than four points in the second half, the last time at 58-54. 

Mike Anderson, who led Moberly with 22 points, hit a 3-pointer to start a 13-0 run for the Greyhounds and IHCC never threatened again.

Anderson scored all but two of his points in the second half.

One of the lone bright spots for the Warriors came when their scoring leader, Jameel McKay, scored his seventh and final field goal of the night late in the second half, a basket that put him over the 1,000-point mark for his career.

McKay is now at 1,001 points, the first IHCC player to surpass 1,000 points since teammates Dwight Buycks and Dwight Hardy both passed the milestone in the 2008-09 season.

Frank Williams led four Indian Hills players in double figures against Moberly with 17 points.  Trinson White, on the strength of three 3-pointers in the second half, had 13 and Jelan Kendrick 12.

Indian Hills will close out the regular season Saturday night by hosting Marshalltown CC at the Hellyer Center.

MOBERLY 84, INDIAN HILLS 64

INDIAN HILLLS

Jameel McKay 7 0-0 14, Trinson White 4 2-2 13, Jelan Kendrick 6 0-2 12, Frank Williams 5 5-5 17, Gary Williams, Jr. 0 2-2 2, Martin Dixon-Green 0 0-0 0, Majok Deng 3 0-0 6, Gary Ross 0 0-0 0 Team 25 9-11 64

MOBERLY

Mike Anderson 7 5-6 22, Kevin Jordan 3 0-0 6, Rayshawn Simmons 4 0-0 9, Trent Washington 3 1-1 8, Evan Singletary 3 0-0 8, T.J. White 7 0-0 15, Malcolm Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Brennen Hughes 8 0-0 16  Team 35 6-7 84

Halftime score: Moberly 38, Indian Hills 30; Three-point field goals: MACC 8 (Anderson 3; Singletary 2; Simmons, Washington, White 1), IHCC 5 ( White 3, F. Williams 2) 

Warriors Stage Big Comeback to Down SCC

West Burlington, Iowa – In one of the biggest comebacks in school history, Indian Hills overcame a 24-point second-half deficit and knocked off Southeastern CC, 104-99, in double overtime at Loren Walker Arena on Saturday night.

The Warriors got a shot at the buzzer at the end of regulation from Jelan Kendrick to force the first overtime, a 3-pointer by Majok Deng to knot the score at the end of the first OT and then another three by Deng to go ahead for good in the second extra session to stay undefeated in conference play.

Third-ranked Indian Hills won its 12^th game in a row and improved its league record to 7-0, clinching the outright title for the second year in a row.

Things looked bleak for the Warriors when SCC went on top 56-32 with three minutes gone in the second half.  Jordan Stevens, who poured in a game-high 41 points, hit a 3-pointer to end the first half to give the Blackhawks a 51-28 halftime advantage.  Stevens hit another three early in the second half and the Warriors were in serious trouble.

The IHCC comeback started with 12 consecutive points, six of them by Kendrick.

Indian Hills’ pressure defense started to cause SCC some problems and the Blackhawks, who had 21 field goals in the first half to just nine for IHCC, went cold from the field.

A dunk by Kendrick shaved the SCC lead to three with over 10 minutes to play and completed a 25-4 run for the visitors.

Southeastern, though, refused to give up the lead, holding off the Warriors thanks to Stevens and Warren Jones.  Jones scored eight points in one two-minute stretch and his second straight three built the lead back to 12 at 76-64 with a little under five minutes left.

Indian Hills outscored the Blackhawks 16-4 the rest of regulation with Kendrick providing the heroics in the final seconds of the second half.

The SCC lead was 80-74 after Stevens made two foul shots with 19.4 seconds remaining.

Kendrick was fouled and hit one of two free throws with 14.2 seconds on the clock.  After an SCC turnover Kendrick hit a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 80-78 with 6.2 seconds to play.

The Warriors fouled immediately and Stevens missed the front end of a one-and-one.  Kendrick rebounded the errant foul shot, dribbled the length of the floor and hit a running shot in the lane at the horn to force overtime.

Frank Williams gave IHCC its first lead of the game when he opened the scoring in the first OT.  But after Dontay Jackson scored on consecutive breakaway layups SCC was on top 89-84. 

That’s when Deng stepped up for the Warriors.  The freshman nailed one three to cut the lead to two, and after the Blackhawks made a free throw to make it 90-87, Deng buried another trey to send the game to a second OT.

Kendrick hit two free throws to start the next overtime. Joe Scott gave SCC a brief lead with a 3-pointer, but Deng sank another three and the Warriors didn’t trail again.

Stevens scored the final six points for his team, but with SCC trailing 101-98 with one minute to play, he made just one of two foul shots and the Warriors closed out the game with two free throws by Gary Williams, Jr. and one by Jameel McKay in the last 25 seconds.

McKay’s 30 points led Indian Hills.  He had 16 points, Dustin Hogue 13 and Kendrick 12 in the second half when IHCC outscored the hosts 52-29.

Stevens made four threes at the end of the first half to cap a 20-point half for the freshman guard.  Indian Hills’ nine first-half field goals and 28 points were lows for the season.

Southeastern jumped on the Warriors early, scoring the first ten points in just three minutes, and steadily building their advantage thanks in large part to the hot shooting of Stevens.

Most comebacks of the size of IHCC’s are fueled by 3-pointers, but Kendrick’s trey in the last minute of regulation was only the second of the game for the Warriors.  Deng, then, drilled three in the overtimes.

The Blackhawks, 20-9 overall, close conference play with a 3-5 record and wait to see where they will be seeded for Region 11’s postseason tourney.  The Warriors take a 26-2 record to Moberly (Mo.) on Tuesday for their final non-conference game of the regular season.

Indian Hills returns home to host Marshalltown CC on Saturday night.  The Warriors will play their first postseason contest at home on Feb. 25 and, if they win, would host the region title game on Mar. 2.

Saturday’s game was marred by a melee at the end of the second overtime with players, coaches and fans from both teams filling the floor after the buzzer sounded.  There were a number of brief flare-ups before order was finally restored. 

INDIAN HILLS 104, SOUTHEASTERN 99 (2OT)

INDIAN HILLS

Jameel McKay 12 6-9 30, Richard Amardi 0 1-4 1, Trinson White 0 0-0 0, Dustin Hogue 7 7-13 21, Ronald Ross 1 1-3 3, Jelan Kendrick 6 3-4 16, Frank Williams 4 3-4 12, Ronnie Stevens 1 0-0 2, Gary Williams, Jr. 2 4-4 8, Martin Dixon-Green 0 0-0 0, Majok Deng 4 0-0 11  Team 37 25-41 104

SOUTHEASTERN

Warren Jones 5 0-0 12, Jordan Stevens 14 7-12 41, Tyrie Orosco 2 1-1 5, Ar-Tese Harris 2 0-0 4, Nick Lyon 0 0-2 0, Dontay Jackson 4 0-1 8, Marlon Cort 3 0-0 8,  Joe Scott 4 1-2 11, Debonair Edwards 4 2-5 10  Team 38 11-23 99

Halftime score: Southeastern 51, Indian Hills 28; Three-point field goals: SCC 12 (Stevens 6; Jones, Cort, Scott 2), IHCC 5 (Deng 3; F. Williams, Kendrick 1)

Warriors Take Showdown at Iowa Western

Council Bluffs, Iowa – Despite their lowest point total in two years, the Indian Hills Warriors clinched at least a share of another conference championship with a 67-59 win over Iowa Western on Saturday night in a battle between two teams ranked in the top five nationally.

No. 5 Indian Hills (25-2, 6-0) turned the game around by outscoring fourth-ranked Iowa Western 17-2 at the end of the first half.  The Warriors then held off the Reivers in the second half, even though IHCC only made six field goals after halftime.

Both of Iowa Western’s losses this year have been to the Warriors, who won their 11^th straight game overall and their seventh in a row against Iowa Western (24-2, 4-2).  Indian Hills is 20-2 against the Reivers over the last seven years.

Ronald Ross led the Warriors with 20 points, seven of them coming in the final 1:23 of the first half.  Ross made a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the half and then, after an Iowa Western turnover, nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give IHCC a 39-26 lead at the half.

Ross started the second half with a basket to put the lead at 15, the largest of the game, and Iowa Western spent the rest of the night chipping away at the deficit.

Twice IWCC’s Josiah Coleman made it a three-point game, the second time at 60-57.  Devin Brooks missed a potential tying three with 2:43 left, and Tyrone Haughton made one of two free throws to get the Reivers to within two points.

Dustin Hogue gave Indian Hills a little breathing room by scoring on a putback with a little over a minute remaining. 

The Warriors then made five-of-six foul shots in the final minute, the first two by Gary Williams, Jr., who was a perfect 8-for-8 for the game.  He helped fill in for starting point guard Jelan Kendrick, who is sidelined with a shoulder separation.

Williams had 14 points and Hogue 10.

On a night when he made only 2-of-14 shots from the field, Warriors’ scoring leader Jameel McKay grabbed 18 rebounds.

The game was tied four times in the first half until Brooks put IWCC ahead 24-22 with two free throws.  That’s when Indian Hills took off.

After tying the score at 24-all, the Warriors got consecutive field goals from Richard Amardi.  McKay and Amardi each scored inside and then Ross stepped up at the end of the first half, with his three as the half ended reminiscent of his game-winning 3-pointer two weeks earlier at Marshalltown.

The Warriors’ run to close the opening half was identical to the one they had in the earlier meeting with Iowa Western, when IHCC ended the Reivers’ 20-game winning streak to open the season.

Brooks had 14 points to lead Iowa Western and Coleman and Tavian Pomlee each added 11.

The 21 field goals for Indian Hills were the fewest they’ve had in the past two years, but they helped themselves by making 22-of-32 free throws, outscoring the Reivers 22-11 from the foul line.

With the win, Indian Hills clinches no worse than a share of the conference title –they own a two-game lead with two games to play.  It means they’ll have home court advantage throughout the Region 11 postseason tournament.  And home is where they want to be, winning all 16 home games this year and 36 straight over the last two seasons.

The Warriors are idle until playing at Southeastern CC on Saturday night.  Their final two regular season games are the following week – at Moberly (Mo.) on Feb. 19 and at home against Marshalltown Feb. 23.  The postseason begins the next week.

INDIAN HILLS 67, IOWA WESTERN 59

INDIAN HILLS

Jameel McKay 2 3-6 7, Richard Amardi 4 0-0 8, Dustin Hogue 3 4-8 10, Ronald Ross 7 4-6 20, Gary Ross 0 0-0 0, Trinson White 0 2-2 2, Frank Williams 2 0-0 5, Ronnie Stevens 0 1-2 1, Gary Williams, Jr. 3 8-8 14, Majok Deng 0 0-0 0, Rawane Ndiaye 0 0-0 0  Team 21 22-32 67

IOWA WESTERN

Devin Brooks 6 2-4 14, Dinjihl Walker 2 2-5 7, Tavian Pomlee 4 2-2 11, Tyrone Haughton 1 2-5 4, Josiah Coleman 4 3-4 11, Ryan Bowie 4 0-0 10, Michael Hudson 0 0-0 0, Kashief Thomas 1 0-0 2  Team 22 11-20 59

Halftime score: Indian Hills 39, Iowa Western 26; Three-point field goals: IHCC 3 (R. Ross 2, F. Williams 1), IWCC 4 (Bowie 2; Walker, Pomlee 1)

Warriors Complete Season Sweep of Three Rivers

Ottumwa -- Ronald Ross and Frank Williams both scored 12 of their 16 points in the second half and Indian Hills used that production to pull away from visiting Three Rivers CC over the final 20 minutes and defeat the Raiders, 100-66, on Tuesday night.

The win was the 16th straight at home this season for the Warriors and their 36th in a row since the start of the 2011-12 season.

Indian Hills, who earlier in the day was elevated to the No. 5 spot in the NJCAA national poll, improved to 24-2 for the season and now prepares for this Saturday's trip to Council Bluffs and a showdown with No. 4 Iowa Western.  The Warriors lead IWCC by one game in the conference standings and can clinch at least a tie for the league title with a win.

Indian Hills and Three Rivers were locked in a one-point game with just under eight minutes to go in the first half Tuesday.  The Warriors then went on a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to build a 13-point lead and they were never in trouble again. 

Ronnie Stevens, who had a double-double while getting extended playing time, scored the first four points in the run and Richard Amardi, who tallied 14 for the game, accounted for the final four.

The lead was still at 13 points heading into the second half and then the Warriors took off.  They erupted for 31 points in the first 8 1/2 minutes of the half and the lead had grown to over 30 points by the midpoint of the half.  The largest lead was 37 points.

Frank Williams had 10 of his 16 points in a two-minute stretch in which he made two 3s and two layups, finishing one of the fast breaks with a slam dunk.

After struggling to find the range from three-point territory in the first half, Indian Hills made eight 3s in the last half, with six different players making at least one trey.  Three Rivers hit only 2-of-16 from behind the arc for the game.

Stevens had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Amardi also had a double-double with 11 rebounds to go along with his 14 points.

Ibrahim Djambo had 21 and Ayinde Sprewell 18 for the Raiders, who are 13-12.

INDIAN HILLS 100, THREE RIVERS 66

INDIAN HILLS

Richard Amardi 6 2-2 14, Trinson White 1 0-0 3, Dustin Hogue 4 0-0 10, Ronald Ross 5 5-5 16, Jelan Kendrick 2 3-5 7, Frank Williams 7 0-0 16, Ronnie Stevens 3 5-6 11, Gary Williams, Jr. 1 1-2 3, Martin Dixon-Green 3 0-0 7, Majok Deng 3 0-0 8, Gary Ross 1 0-0 2, Rawane Ndiaye 1 1-2 3  Team 37 17-22 100

THREE RIVERS

Ibrahim Djambo 6 8-10 21, Jalen Lacy 3 3-3 9, Ayinde Sprewell 5 8-15 18, Eli Sample 2 0-0 4, John Meyer 1 0-0 2, Brandon Strickland 1 0-0 3, Jordan McGowan 0 1-3 1, Will Hollifield 0 0-0 0, Nelson Ollie 1 2-2 4, James Macklin 0 0-0 0, Cameron Ross 1 0-0 2, Eljie Johnson 1 0-0 2  Team 21 22-33 66

Halftime score: Indian Hills 43, Three Rivers 30; Three-point field goals: IHCC 9 (Hogue, F. Williams, Deng 2; White, Dixon-Green, R. Ross 1), TRCC 2 (Djambo, Strickland 1)

IHCC Stays Perfect in Region With Win Against Northeast

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills kept its Region 11 conference record perfect and ran its current winning streak to nine games on Saturday night, but the Warriors had a much more difficult time with Northeast (Neb.) than in the earlier meeting on Jan. 16.  The Warriors, who had drubbed the Hawks, 120-89, last month on Northeast's home floor, had to battle the entire 40 minutes in the return encounter before prevailing, 106-95.

The game wasn't decided until IHCC put together a late 12-4 run after Northeast had crept to within five points at 94-89 with 4 1/2 minutes to play.

Indian Hills tried to break away, taking a double-digit lead once near the end of the first half and two more times in the second half, only to see NCC get the lead back to as little as four points.

The 95 points the Hawks scored were the second-most the Warriors have given up in a game this year, topped only by the 96 scored by Southern Idaho in an overtime loss IHCC suffered in November.

Indian Hills topped 100 points for the 12th time in 25 games and ran its conference record to 5-0, one game ahead of Iowa Western in the league standings.

The game was tied six times and there were five lead changes in the opening half.  Richard Amardi, one of five Warriors in double figures with 16 points, had two consecutive field goals after the score was tied at 29 and Indian Hills never trailed again. 

It was tied at 42-all and IHCC then outscored the Hawks, 15-6, the rest of the first half to go ahead by nine at halftime.

The lead grew to 14 early in the second half and that was the largest lead for Indian Hills.  The late charge for the Warriors started with a free throw and then Majok Deng got his only basket to make it 97-89.  Jameel McKay, who scored 17, hit a pair of free throws to build the advantage to 10 and the Warriors were home free.

Dustin Hogue led Indian Hills with a season-high 24-point output.  Ronald Ross added 18.  Amardi's 16 points tied his season-high.

Sean McGary paced five double-figure scorers for Northeast with 23 points.

The win was the 15th straight at home this season for IHCC and their 35th in a row over the last two years.  They will put those streaks on the line in a non-conference game with Three Rivers CC on Tuesday night before traveling to Council Bluffs for a showdown with Iowa Western on Saturday.


INDIAN HILLS 106, NORTHEAST  95

INDIAN HILLS

Jameel McKay 6 5-10 17, Richard Amardi 6 4-4 16, Dustin Hogue 9 4-7 24, Ronald Ross 8 0-0 18, Jelan Kendrick 7 2-6 16, Frank Williams 2 0-0 4, Ronnie Stevens 1 4-4 6, Gary Williams, Jr. 1 1-2 3, Majok Deng 1 0-0 2, Rawane Ndiaye 0 0-0 0  Team 41 20-33 106

NORTHEAST 

K.J. Bluford 6 0-0 17, Khapri Alston 6 2-6 14, Kyle Kilgore 4 6-9 14, Sean Scott 5 2-2 13, Sean McGary 8 7-10 23, Jabbar Washington 1 1-2 4, Rasheed Fairley 2 0-2 4, Corey Mitchell 1 0-0 2, Blake Heppner 1 2-2 4, Oral Rahming 0 0-0 0, Bryce Williams 0 0-0 0  Team 34 20-33 95

Halftime score: Indian Hills 57, Northeast 48; Three-point field goals: IHCC 4 (Ross, Hogue 2), NCC 7 (Bluford 5; Scott, Washington 1)