Thursday, March 31, 2011

IHCC Tabs Peery as New Hoops Coach

OTTUMWA --- Saying it’s a job he considers one of the top five or six in the country in the junior college ranks, Barret Peery has been tabbed to fill the basketball coaching vacancy at Indian Hills Community College. Peery’s hiring was announced Thursday.

The new coach says he was drawn to Indian Hills by the history of the college’s basketball program, the passion of the fan base and the understanding by everyone of what it takes to be successful on a regional and national level.

Peery comes to Indian Hills after three years as an assistant coach at the University of Utah. Prior to that, he coached for five years, three as head coach, at the College of Southern Idaho, a two-year school and perennial national power in Twin Falls, Idaho.

At Southern Idaho, Peery took his team to the NJCAA Division I national tournament twice, finishing fourth at the tourney in 2007. He compiled a record of 85-19, a winning percentage of .817, at CSI.

“Indian Hills is one of a handful of schools in the country,” Peery said, “where you have a realistic expectation of going to the national tournament every year. This was an opportunity to coach at a special place, one where the administration has the same goals as I do.”

Peery was selected from a pool of over 200 applicants and was one of six finalists for the IHCC job.

Two of Peery’s three teams at Southern Idaho led the nation in scoring and he promises that Indian Hills fans will see a fast-paced brand of basketball.

“We will play fast and use the whole floor,” the new Warriors coach said. “We should be an entertaining team to watch. But just because we will be a high-scoring team doesn’t mean we won’t guard people. I believe you can be a good defensive team while still scoring a lot of points.”

During his three years as head coach at CSI, the Golden Eagles won three Scenic West Athletic Conference titles and Peery was named Coach of the Year twice.
His best CSI team may have been his final one, a team that finished 30-2 but lost the Region 18 championship game to Salt Lake CC. Nine players from that team signed with NCAA Division I schools.

In all, Peery had 23 players go on to play D-I basketball in three years.
Peery describes his recruiting plans as “coast-to-coast.” He said his rosters at Southern Idaho were filled with players from all across the country.

His first two years at CSI were spent as an assistant under Gib Arnold before he ascended to the head coaching job. Peery has a total of 16 years coaching experience. He has been an assistant coach at Snow College in Utah, Utah Valley State College, Southern Utah University and Portland State University.

A native of Payson, Utah, Peery is a graduate of Southern Utah where he played for two seasons and was a co-captain his senior year. He was also an academic all-conference selection. He received an associate of science degree from Snow College and captained that school’s basketball team as a sophomore.

In high school, Peery was a three-year basketball letterman and was named to all-region and all-state teams in Utah.

The new IHCC coach will head to Houston this weekend, the site of the NCAA Final Four. “That’s where I intend to start my recruiting for Indian Hills,” Peery said.
Peery and his wife Tracy have three children, daughter Kennedy and sons Crew and Whitton.

The Warriors were 23-10 this past season. Jeff Kidder resigned following the season after six years as head coach.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

IHCC Places Five on All-League Teams

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills had one player on the first team, three on the second team and one on the honorable mention list on the All-Region 11 basketball team announced this week.

Sophomore Dijon Farr is the lone IHCC player on the all-region first team. Warriors named to the second team were sophomores Stephen Coles and Jerome Jones and freshman Gary Ricks, Jr. Chad Dillard, a sophomore, was the honorable mention choice from Indian Hills.

Farr, from Pacolet, S.C., was a second-team pick last year as a freshman. He averaged 9.6 points and 5.4 rebounds a game this year and led the team in steals (50) and blocks (29). He didn’t miss a game in two years at IHCC, starting 64 of 66 contests.

Coles and Jones both transferred to Indian Hills after a year at four-year schools – Catawba University for Coles and Missouri State for Jones.
Jones, a St. Louis native, led the Warriors in scoring (13.3) and rebounding (6.2).

Coles, from Danville, Va., averaged 6.6 points and shot almost 60-percent from the floor.

Ricks, a native of Sylmar, Cal., was the second-leading scorer for the Warriors (12.5) while playing in all 33 games this season. He also led the team in three-pointers with 73 and made a three in every game but two, including the last 23 straight. Ricks also was the team-leader in assists with 90.

Dillard, from Rochester, N.Y., was a reserve as a freshman and then started 23 games as a sophomore. He had a 7.1 average and was second in assists.

In addition to Farr, the all-region first team includes Jeremy Robinson from Iowa Western, Tyler Brown from Marshalltown and Paris Gulley and Mansa Habeeb from Southeastern. Brown is a repeat first-team selection.

Chris Caird of Marshalltown and Abby Ruple, Jr. of Southeastern join the IHCC trio on the second team.

The two all-league teams are made up of eight sophomores and only two freshmen, Ricks and Caird.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Warriors Rally But Can't Overcome SCC

Ottumwa -- For the third year in a row, Southeastern has sent the Indian Hills basketball team to the postseason sideline. The BlackHawks held off a furious IHCC rally over the final three minutes to escape with a 61-58 victory on Wednesday night to win the best-of-three series 2-0.

SCC looked like they were going to coast to a win when they took a 14-point lead into the final three minutes of regulation. That's when the Indian Hills offense finally woke up. A 14-1 run punctuated by nine straight points by Latroy Taylor brought the Warriors back to within a point at 59-58.

And even after SCC's Paris Gulley made a pair of free throws with 14.0 seconds left, the Warriors still had a chance to tie the game. But Chad Dillard's three-point attempt was off the mark. Gary Ricks grabbed the rebound for the Warriors and dribbled into the corner where he got off a shot that was off the side of the rim with seconds to go.

It was revealed later that Ricks' try would have only been good for two points if it had gone in as he wasn't able to get all the way behind the three-point arc in his haste to beat the horn.

At the end, the Warriors had to look no further than the free throw line to see why they were unable to force a third and deciding game in the series. Indian Hills made only 11-of-25 foul shots. Four times in the game, an IHCC player went to the line with two shots and missed both.

For the second game in a row, Indian Hills outshot SCC from the field -- 41% to 38% in this contest. But the BlackHawks made 16 of their 23 free throws for 70% to the Warriors' 44% foul shooting.

Three of SCC's misfires at the free throw line came during the final minutes, fueling the Indian Hills comeback attempt.

They missed the front end of two one-and-ones and the second of a two-shot foul and the Warriors took advantage.

Riley Stuve and Ricks started the late-game blitz by IHCC and then Taylor caught fire. He scored on a layup, was fouled and made the free throw. The freshman guard then made consecutive threes to shave the SCC lead to one.

It as reminiscent of Monday when Indian Hills drilled four 3s in the final 50 seconds. But in this game, like the one two nights before, a bad start to the second half doomed the Warriors.

Mansa Habeeb got a steal and a layup to give SCC a 24-22 halftime lead. And just like in the previous game, the BlackHawks jumped on the Warriors at the outset of the second half.

They ran out to a 41-30 lead and built the advantage to 51-35 on a pair of free throws by Mason Leggett. And Indian Hills couldn't get untracked until the clock went under three minutes.

After falling behind in the series, the Warriors needed a good start and they got it, jumping out to an early 9-2 lead. But SCC stormed back to go ahead for the first time on a three-pointer by Jordan Aaron.

The game was tied four times the rest of the half, until Habeeb sent SCC off leading by two at the break.

Dijon Farr had led the Warriors' scoring with 25 points in Monday's game. But he picked up his third foul with nine minutes to play in the first half and eventually fouled out late in the game with only three points.

Jerome Jones had 17 in the earlier game, all in the second half. He had six of IHCC's first nine points and 13 in the first half. He led the Warriors with 18. Stuve and Taylor added 11 each.

Gulley led all scorers with 19 points and Habeeb added 16.

Southeastern moves on to play Williston State College in the District 11 title game in Williston, N.D next Tuesday. The Warriors close the year with a 23-10 record.

SOUTHEASTERN 61, INDIAN HILLS 58

INDIAN HILLS Stephen Coles 1 0-2 2, Jerome Jones 7 3-6 18, Dijon Farr 1 1-4 3, Riley Stuve 4 2-3 11, Chad Dillard 1 4-7 6, Gary Ricks, Jr. 3 0-0 7, Latroy Taylor 4 1-3 11, D.J. Bennett 0 0-0 0 Team 21 11-25 58

SOUTHEASTERN Paris Gulley 7 2-2 19, Mason Leggett 1 2-4 4, Mansa Habeeb 6 3-4 16, Rinaldo Mafra 1 1-2 3, Jordan Aaron 4 6-9 15, Gilbert Bush 0 2-2 2, Bida Seck 1 0-0 2, Myles Fitten 0 0-0 0, Tyrie Orosco 0 0-0 0 Team 20 16-23 61

Halftime score: Southeastern 24, Indian Hills 22; Three-point field goals: SCC 5 (Gulley 3, Habeeb 1, Aaron 1), IHCC 5 (Taylor 2, Jones 1, Stuve 1, Ricks 1)

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

SCC Takes Round One From IHCC

West Burlington, IA -- Southeastern CC took advantage of 18 Indian Hills turnovers and their own 32-of-37 free-throw shooting to take the first game of the Region 11 postseason championship series, 86-79, at Loren Walker Arena Monday night.

The win by SCC puts the Warriors in a must-win situation for game two on Wednesday night on IHCC's home court.

Southeastern turned many of the Indian Hills turnovers -- they committed nine in each half -- into easy baskets. And after being outrebounded 19-8 in the first half, SCC turned the tables on the visiting Warriors by winning the board battle, 25-14, in the second half.

For the game, nearly half (16) of the BlackHawks' rebounds were on the offensive end. And just like with the turnovers, a number of those offensive boards resulted in SCC field goals.

After falling behind by 11 points in the second half, Indian Hills needed to count on some missed free throws by SCC in order to get back in the game. But the BlackHawks didn't oblige, making 25-of-27 foul shots in the second half and 32-of-37 (86.5% for the game).

Indian Hills actually outshot SCC from both the field (52% to 42%) and the three-point line (47% to 33%). And the Warriors' free-throw shooting was also good, making 19-of-24. But the big disparity in turnovers -- SCC had only seven compared to IHCC's 18 -- is a main reason why the BlackHawks will be looking to finish out the series on Wednesday.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first half, which ended with SCC on top, 37-35.

Southeastern then scored 17 points in the first six minutes of the second half. After the lead grew to 57-46, Indian Hills three times cut the deficit to four points, but couldn't get any closer than that.

With just under 2 1/2 minutes to play, the Warriors trailed 70-65. But Southeastern then made 14 free throws in a row to nail down the win.

A flurry of three-pointers by IHCC -- Jerome Jones and Dijon Farr each made two in the final 50 seconds -- couldn't bring the Warriors back.

Jones played only eight minutes in the first half after being saddled with two early fouls. He scored 17 in the second half. Farr was one away from tying his career-high with 25 points. They combined for 12 of IHCC's 15 second-half field goals.

Jordan Aaron and Mansa Habeeb each scored 17 and Paris Gulley added 16 for Southeastern.

SOUTHEASTERN 86, INDIAN HILLS 79

INDIAN HILLS Stephen Coles 1 8-9 10, Jerome Jones 5 4-5 17, Dijon Farr 9 5-8 25, Riley Stuve 2 0-0 6, Chad Dillard 2 2-2 6, Gary Ricks, Jr. 3 0-0 7, Latroy Taylor 3 0-0 6, D.J. Bennett 1 0-0 2 Team 26 19-24 79

SOUTHEASTERN Paris Gulley 4 6-6 16, Mason Leggett 3 0-1 7, Mansa Habeeb 5 7-8 17, Rinaldo Mafra 3 2-2 8, Jordan Aaron 4 9-9 17, Gilbert Bush 2 4-4 9, Bida Seck 3 0-3 6, Myles Fitten 0 0-0 0, Tyrie Orosco 1 4-4 6 Team 25 32-37 86

Halftime score: Southeastern 37, Indian Hills 35; Three-point field goals: IHCC 8 (Jones 3, Farr 2, Stuve 2, Ricks 1), SCC 4 (Gulley 2, Leggett 1, Bush 1)

Friday, February 25, 2011

Warriors Start Postseason by Edging Iowa Western

Ottumwa -- Frequently, it's a matter of surviving and moving on in postseason basketball. That's what Indian Hills was able to do on Thursday. The second-seeded Warriors came from 11 points down in the second half to rally and defeat third-seeded Iowa Western, 66-63, at the Hellyer Center.

The win sets up a matchup between Indian Hills (23-8) and Southeastern (24-7) in the region's championship series, the third year in a row that IHCC and SCC will collide in the best-of-three title series.

Southeastern had an easier time in their first-round game, pummeling Marshalltown, 91-67.

It looked for quite a while Thursday like Iowa Western (14-17)would spring an upset over Indian Hills. The Reivers had lost the regular-season game at IHCC by 23 points.

But, outside of a brief one-point lead by Indian Hills early in the game, Iowa Western was in control for about the first 30 minutes of action.

When the Reiver's Jordan Weaver scored the final two of seven points in a row for IWCC, the visitors had a 41-30 lead, their largest of the game.

The Warriors and their fans were getting anxious, but Indian Hills finally got a spark that settled some of that anxiety.

Jerome Jones and Stephen Coles hit back-to-back baskets for the Warriors and then Dijon Farr went to work. Farr, who had 15 points, scored three straight buckets. The second came after he stole the ball and drove the length of the floor for a layup.

He then scored again on a baseline out-of-bounds lob pass from Gary Ricks, Jr. that sliced the Iowa Western lead to 41-40.

But Iowa Western refused to give up the lead until Jones and Ricks buried consecutive 3s to put IHCC on top 53-50.

The Warriors never trailed again although the Reivers got to within one point once, and to within two at 65-63 after Jeremy Robinson hit a three-pointer with 14 seconds to play.

Farr was fouled with 8.9 seconds on the clock and made one of two free throws to put the IHCC advantage at three. Robinson's three-point attempt just before the buzzer was off the mark.

Robinson made a 3 at the end of the first half to give Iowa Western a 29-25 lead at halftime. He led the Reivers with 22 points.

Iowa Western had a seven-point lead in the first half at 23-16 after a three-point play by Alonzo Traylor.

Four of the Warriors' first five field goals were three-pointers and it took them nearly 14 minutes to make those five shots. They wound up the game with 10 3's.

IHCC committed 11 turnovers in the opening half and didn't have a free-throw attempt.

They did a better job of taking care of the basketball in the second half with just three turnovers and made 8-of-10 2nd half free throws.

Indian Hills and Southeastern split a pair of games in the regular season. Both won at home, SCC by a 64-58 score and IHCC by 65-64.


INDIAN HILLS 66, IOWA WESTERN 63

INDIAN HILLS Stephen Coles 3 2-2 8, Jerome Jones 8 3-3 21, Dijon Farr 6 1-2 15, Riley Stuve 3 0-0 8, Chad Dillard 1 2-3 5, Gary Ricks 3 0-0 9, Latroy Taylor 0 0-0 0, D.J. Bennett 0 0-0 0 Team 24 8-10 66

IOWA WESTERN Jeremy Robinson 8 4-9 22, Alonzo Traylor 6 1-3 13, Kelvin Dixon 3 1-1 7, Montez Blair 3 0-0 6, J.C. Guzman 2 0-0 6, Tyrone Black 0 0-0 0, Tim McDavid 0 0-0 0, Zaahir Smith 0 0-0 0, Jordan Weaver 4 1-1 9 Team 26 7-14 63

Halftime score: Iowa Western 29, Indian Hills 25; Three-point field goals: IHCC 10 (Ricks 3, Jones 2, Farr 2, Stuve 2, Dillard 1), IWCC 4 (Robinson 2, Guzman 2)

Monday, February 21, 2011

Warriors Down Marshalltown, Grab Piece of League Title

Ottumwa -- Season-high scoring performances from Dijon Farr and Stephen Coles allowed Indian Hills to claim a share of the conference title on Saturday night as the Warriors knocked off Marshalltown CC, 87-75, at the Hellyer Center.

Farr and Coles were two of six IHCC sophomores who were recognized before the game. They then went out and put on a show. Farr had 24 points, the highest scoring output in his two years at Indian Hills. And Coles notched 17 points and was instrumental in helping the Warriors (22-8, 4-2 Region XI) break open a close game at the start of the second half.

With the Warriors taking a 44-39 lead into the final half, Coles scored on each of Indian Hills' first two possessions of the half. But it was on the defensive end where he also made his presence felt. He either blocked a shot or grabbed a rebound, or both, on MCC's first three possessions.

And after Farr tipped in a missed shot, he got a steal and fed Coles on a fastbreak layup. Jerome Jones followed with a basket for the Warriors to finish off a 10-2 burst to begin the second half and Indian Hills never led by fewer than 10 points after that.

Jones scored 19 and Gary Ricks, Jr. added 13 as Indian Hills had its highest point total in over two months.

Chris Caird came off the bench to keep Marshalltown (15-14, 2-4) close in the first half, when he scored 15 of his team-high 22 points. Tyler Brown had 21 for the Tigers.

Marshalltown had an early 5-2 lead before Jones tied it with a three, the first of 12 unanswered points for the Warriors.

The Tigers fought back from a 10-point deficit to tie the score at 37-all.

That's when Farr went to work. He hit a pair of foul shots, scored on a driving layup, then buried a three-pointer.

With the win, the Warriors completed a season sweep of Marshalltown and earned a tie for first place in the conference with Southeastern. It's the third year in a row, and the fourth time in five years, that Indian Hills has tied for the league crown or won it outright.

Indian Hills will host Iowa Western on Thursday night in a first-round game in the Region XI tournament. The winner will play the winner of Thursday's game between Marshalltown and Southeastern in a best-of-three series to determine the Region XI postseason champion.

INDIAN HILLS 87, MARSHALLTOWN 75

INDIAN HILLS Stephen Coles 7 3-4 17, Jerome Jones 8 2-5 19, Derrick Hill 0 0-0 0, Dijon Farr 8 7-8 24, Riley Stuve 1 1-2 3, Chad Dillard 1 4-4 6, Gary Ricks 5 1-2 13, Latroy Taylor 2 0-0 5, D.J. Bennett 0 0-0 0 Team 32 18-25 87

MARSHALLTOWN Tyler Brown 6 9-12 21, Veisteinn Sveinsson 4 0-0 11, Sherman Blanford 1 0-1 2, Chris Caird 6 8-10 22, Rashaad Brown 3 1-2 7, Michael Appel 2 2-2 8, Luiz Santos 1 0-2 2, Nilson Santana 1 0-2 2 Team 24 20-31 75

Halftime score: Indian Hills 44, Marshalltown 39; Three-point field goals: IHCC 5 (Ricks 2, Jones 1, Farr 1, Taylor 1), MCC 7 (Sveinsson 3, Caird 2, Appel 2)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Back on Track, Warriors Whip Southwestern

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills was finally able to pull away from visiting Southwestern CC with an 11-0 run over the final three minutes as the Warriors snapped a two-game losing streak with a 67-52 victory at the Hellyer Center Tuesday night.

Southwestern fell behind by 12 points in the first half, but cut the deficit to eight at halftime. The Spartans were within a point at 38-37 in the early part of the second half and Indian Hills (21-8) wasn't able to take control until Gary Ricks' three-pointer started the late-game burst.

Riley Stuve, who made only his second start of the year and responded with 14 points, and Jerome Jones each made a pair of free throws and Stuve and Farr added field goals as the lead grew to 18 points.

The only points for SWCC (14-12) in the final three-plus minutes came on a late 3 by Tyler Smith.

Stephen Coles helped the Warriors get off to a good start, scoring six of IHCC's first 10 points. Coles had all of his 10 points for the game in the first half.

Austin Emerson had 13 first-half points for Southwestern and was their only double-figure scorer with 15.

The Warriors' largest lead of the opening half was 27-15 after a couple of goals by Stuve, including a three, and a trey by Jones.

Southwestern ran off seven straight points to cut the lead back to five. The margin was never greater than eight after that until the late surge by IHCC.

Jones led the Warriors with 16 points.

Indian Hills now sets its sights on this Saturday's battle with Marshalltown at the Hellyer Center. It will be the final regular season game for the Warriors, who are tied for the top spot in the conference with Southeastern, one game ahead of both Marshalltown and Iowa Western.

INDIAN HILLS 67, SOUTHWESTERN 52

INDIAN HILLS Stephen Coles 5 0-0 10, Jerome Jones 6 2-3 16, Derrick Hill 1 0-0 2, Dijon Farr 2 0-6 4, Riley Stuve 4 5-6 14, Chad Dillard 2 2-2 6, Gary Ricks 4 2-2 12, Latroy Taylor 1 0-0 3, Giovanni Smith 0 0-0 0, D.J. Bennett 0 0-0 0 Team 25 11-19 67

SOUTHWESTERN Alec Hall 2 0-0 4, Luke Sealer 3 1-1 8, Tyler Smith 2 0-0 5, Dominique Outley 0 0-0 0, Austin Emerson 6 2-2 15, Keenan Joiner 2 0-0 4, David Goddard 1 0-0 3, Collin Artinger 0 0-0 0, David Farmer 1 0-0 2, De'Everett Williams 1 0-0 2, Sam Duggins 3 1-3 7 Team 21 4-6 52

Halftime score: Indian Hills 36, Southwestern 28; Three-point field goals: IHCC 6 (Jones 2, Ricks 2, Stuve 1, Taylor 1), SWCC 6 (Emerson 3, Sealer 1, Smith 1, Goddard 1)