Top Twenty Teams Collide In Ottumwa, The Visitors Survive
(Saturday, January 8, 2022)
Ottumwa, IA – #17 Southeastern CC, like they do at least once every year, took to the road up US-34 for the 75 minute haul to take on rival No. 8 Indian Hills. It was the ICCAC opener for both squads at the usually unfriendly confines of the Hellyer Center for those who dare to enter.
But this year, the Hellyer has been more unfriendly to the hosts than to its guest. IHCC, under the leadership of Head Coach Hank Plona, now in his 7th season, the Warriors had only won 94% of its home games. This year, their home court record now stands at 7 and 4 following the 88-86 loss suffered at the hands of the Blackhawks.
Southeastern led from the start, holding a 45-34 margin at the break. SCC eventually stretched the lead to 19 just under 13 to play. Indian Hills made a valiant effort late to avoid the loss, but came up just a little short. Braxton Bayless hit a running 30 footer at the buzzer to make the final two point deficit.
Trailing 78-62 with just under 3 minutes to play, the Warriors gave the Hawks a scare with a 24 to 10 finish. With the hot hand and all of the momentum, Indian Hills probably needed about another minute of game clock to complete the massive comeback.
With only three teams in DI mens basketball in Region 11, each team knows the importance of holding serve at home. The regular season champ only gets the #1 seed in the District tournament, but that includes a first round bye and a one game playoff on their home court for the trophy.
With the win, SCC holds the upper hand for that post season #1 seed, but still not a lock by any means. Indian Hills still has a say. And Marshalltown is the third school in the District. They are currently 9-9 on the season, but they have played some ranked teams tough all year long.
The Hills were led in scoring by Eddiean Tirado, who finished with 17. Eddiean was 5-8 from the field, all from behind the arc. Braxton Bayless was next with 14 points to go along with 7 rebounds. J’vonne Hadley, Enoch Kalambay, and Taj Anderson all contributed 11. Anderson was playing in his first game since Dec. 4, missing 7 games. Hadley added four rebounds with Adetokunbo Bakare ending the night with 10 points. IHCC is now 14-5 on the season, 0-1 in league play, and will travel to #25 Triton on Wednesday.
The Blackhawks move to 17-2, 1-0, and won’t play again until next Saturday, when they host Triton. Leading the Hawks attack was Railer Vargas Hernandez, who double dipped the Warriors for 21 points and 10 caroms. Jimmy Beane tallied 14, with Davion Bailey netting 13 plus 3 helpers. Kobe Isaac ended the night with ten.
Other than a plus ten rebounding margin for the Blackhawks, the final team stats actually mirrored each other. SCC shot at a 54% clip, IHCC was at 48%. Both made just over 50% of their threes and made 20 FTs.
Southeastern’s victory snapped a five-game winning streak by the Warriors in the historic and sometimes rowdy series. Saturday night’s matchup was the first time since 2019 when both teams entered the game nationally ranked. The rematch in W. Burlington is scheduled for Saturday, February 5th.
