IHCC Warriors roll in opener, 91-51

By ROGER THOMAS Courier correspondent

OTTUMWA — The Indian Hills Warriors jumped out to a big lead early and were never tested as they treated the fans in attendance to a 91-51 win over Carl Sandburg Tuesday night at the Hellyer Center in the season opener.

True freshman Dijon Farr’s three opened the scoring for the Warriors. Farr would have 11 points in the first 11 minutes of play.

“I was so ready to play my first college game. I felt good tonight,” said Farr.

Larry Stone’s first basket gave the Warriors a five-point lead two minutes into the game. Stone would lead the Warriors with a game-high 20 points.

Farr’s second three made it 9-2 and two minutes later a three by Chad Dillard put the Warriors up 10 at 14-4.

The Warrior guards’ defense had a lot to do with the visitors 13 first-half turnovers.

Farr and Stone went back-to-back-to-back with scores to push the lead to 27-7. Farr had his third three and his steal and pass to Stone led to his score. Farr would finish his first half scoring with two free throws to end the run.

The lead kept building to the 25-point margin after 20 minutes. The second 10 minutes featured two more baskets by Stone and two scores by Brandon Garrett, another true freshman. One of Garrett’s baskets came on a high-low pass from his running mate in the post. The Warrior big men would make this play a number of times in the game.

Indian Hills took 17 3-pointers in the opening half and 30 for the game.

“The number doesn’t really concern me,” said Hills coach Jeff Kidder. “We want open looks and we got a lot of them.”

Stone, Farr, and Garrett each scored to open the second half before the visitors got on the board. The 47-16 lead was 60-20 with 12 minutes to play.

The Warrior defense seemed to be more team-oriented in the second half. With pressure and overplaying of passing lanes, Indian Hills forced the visitors into another 12 turnovers.

“For the most part I thought we played good defense. We really played it well in spurts,” added Kidder.

The Warriors put four players in double figures. After Farr had the big opening half, Stone, Aaron Austin, and Garrett used their second halves to join the group of double-figure scorers.

Garrett’s last basket put the Warriors up 65-27 at the midpoint of the second half. He would have a game-high 12 rebounds to go with his 11 points.

“I’m an active type post man. I like to run the floor,” said Garrett. “I’m learnig to get used to playing against size and big bodies everyday in practice.”

The tempo of the game was to the Warriors’ liking. The largest lead was 47 numerous times in the closing minutes.

Kidder talked about his team establishing how the game would be played.

“We pushed the ball pretty well and gave ourselves a comfortable tempo to work in.”

Sandburg’s leading scorer, Jo-Paul Jones, had 10 of his 15 points in the final minutes.

Two plays in the closing 10 minutes exemplified the Warrior performance on the night. Warrior big man Bruno Ferreira dove headfirst over the Warrior bench and into the first row of bleachers to save a loose ball. The second was the last Warrior basket. Erik Eckhardt scored with just seconds to go to make the final 91-51. Eckhardt’s basket meant that 10 different Warriors scored.

“This was a good opener. We saw our team come out ready to play and give good effort,” added Eckhardt.

The Warriors are back in action Friday and Saturday nights when they host The Jack Blackwell Tire Co. Classic.



Indian Hills 91, Carl Sandburg 51

CSan 16 35 — 51

IHCC 41 50 — 91

CSan (51) — Jeremy Sewell 8, Patrick Lewis 6, Jones 15, D.T. Thornton 7, Stephen Reynolds 5, Shauntrell Manney 4, Drake Webster 6 . Totals 17-62 9-14 51.

3-point goals — 8-28 (Jones 3, Lewis 2, Reynolds, Manney, Webster). Fouled out —none . Rebounds — 27 (Thornton 6). Assists — 7 (Lewis 4). Steals — 6 (Manney 2). Blocks — 2 (Reynolds, Justin Sharp). Total fouls — 13. Turnovers — 25.

IHCC (91) — Farr 15, Stone 20, Austin 11, Garrett 11, Ferreira 3, Chano Rashiduddin 6, Hill 12, Dillard 7, Alex Vouyoukas 4, Eckhardt 2 . Totals 33-72 14-17 91.

3-point goals — 11-30 (Farr 3, Stone 4, Hill 3, Dillard). Fouled out —none . Rebounds — 43 (Garrett 12). Assists — 21 (Austin 7). Steals — 11 (Farr 4). Blocks — 4 (Garrett 2). Total fouls — 16. Turnovers — 15.

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