Northwest Florida Inches By Indian Hills To Get First Upset
Hutchinson, KS – After eleven games in the 2022 National Tournament, the home team, or higher seed had never lost… Until game twelve that is. In the nightcap of day two in the tourney, #10 Northwest Florida State slipped by #7 Indian Hills CC (IA), 65-64. Although a number 10 topping a number 7 is not considered an upset of supreme measures, it marked the first time this year that a team wearing their dark unis came out victorious.
The Raiders from the Panhandle Conference of the Florida State Collegiate Athletic Association, led 33-27 at the intermission. Northwest had built a nine point advantage with just under 3 minutes to play in the opening period, but The Hills had cut it to four. With about 20 seconds left, a Kam Woods jumper pushed it back to six as the team headed into the locker room.
As usually happens in modern day basketball, leads are no longer safe. Indian Hills appeared from the break to immediately go on a 16-2 run to take their largest lead at 8, 43-35, at the 14:30 mark. After the seventh tie of the game with just under 11:00 to play, neither team led by more than five.
When the horn sounded NW Florida (28-5) was quarterfinal bound, where they will meet Dodge City at 2:00 on Thursday, March 17.
Top producers for the winners were: Deshawndre Washington with 19 points, five boards, Brennan Rigsby with eleven tallies, five rebounds. Kam Woods put in for ten. Issa Muhammed collected game high ten missed shots.
Indian Hills ends the season at 27-6, collecting a bunch of hardware along the way. A ICCAC championship, a Region 11 Title, and a North Central District Crown to their credit, but leave Hutch empty handed. Leading scorer for the Warriors was Enoch Kalambay who finished with 19 (8-13 from the field). Taj Anderson topped off at 15, J’Vonne Hadley grabbed team high 9 rebounds.
