Warriors Balance, Big 2nd Half Defeat Mesa

BB vs. Mesa

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills used a 23-2 run in the second half to pull away from visiting Mesa (Ariz.) CC and the Warriors made it two straight wins to start the 2017-18 season, dumping the Thunderbirds, 105-82, at the Hellyer Center on Saturday night, the final evening of the Reed Overhead Doors Classic.

Mesa had crept to within 63-60 on a 3-pointer by Adonis Arms when the Warriors took off. After Shane Gatling hit one of his four 3-pointers, Tomas Woldetensae, who topped IHCC with 20 pts, sparked the decisive run with a steal and layup and then dived to save a loose ball from going out of bounds, knocking the ball into the frontcourt where Jamel Allen scooped it up and hit a driving slam dunk to boost the lead to 72-60.  The Warriors didn't stop there, scoring 14 of the next 16 points to finally put away the T'birds.

Indian Hills, despite making one fewer field goal and two fewer 3s than Mesa, still won handily because of a huge discrepancy in free-throw shooting:  the Warriors were 34-49 to Mesa's 7-10.  Mesa was whistled for 30 fouls and Indian Hills only 10.  The Warriors also owned a 45-32 edge on the glass.  Both Ivan Aurrecoechea and James Jean-Marie pulled down 10 boards for IHCC.

Mesa jumped out to an early lead and was up by as many as eight points in the opening half.  Indian Hills was down 21-15, but tied the score in a flurry that saw Woldetensae drain a 3-pointer and Aurrecoechea follow with a 3-point play. Devontae Lane made three-of-four foul shots to put IHCC ahead and Antonio "Booman" Williams tipped in a missed shot to complete a quick 11-0 burst.

The Warriors stretched the lead to 12 later in the half, but were unable to put much distance between themselves and the T'birds until the big 23-2 spurt.

Williams followed Woldetensae with 19 points and Aurrecoechea and Gatling provided 17 each.  Allen gave Indian Hills five double-digit scorers with 11 points.

Errol Newman topped Mesa with 20 and Brent Kimbrel added 18.

The Warriors and Mesa could meet again this season as they are in the same bracket for the Fiesta Bowl Shootout that Mesa will host in late December.

Indian Hills goes on the road for its next two games, at the John Wood Classic in Quincy, Ill., next Friday and Saturday.

INDIAN HILLS 105, MESA 82

INDIAN HILLS

Ivan Aurrecoechea 6 5-8 17, Jamel Allen 4 2-2 11, Antonio Williams 5 8-10 19, Tomas Woldetensae 5 8-8 20, Shane Gatling 5 3-6 17, Connor Murrell 3 0-0 7, Devontae Lane 0 3-4 3, Rob Montgomery 1 2-3 4, James Jean-Marie 2 2-6 6, Javier Valeiras 0 1-2 1  Team 31 34-49 105

MESA

Malique Washington 0 0-0 0, Dominic Sesma 0 0-0 0, Brent Kimbrel 7 1-2 18, Adonis Arms 5 0-0 13, Antwan Ross-Jones 2 0-0 5, Ramon Franklin 2 2-2 7, Mal Pine 0 0-0 0, Bryce Cheney 3 3-4 10, Mikel Beyers 4 0-0 9, Errol Newman 9 1-2 20, Billy Patterson 0 0-0 0, Jeff Perez 0 0-0 0  Team 32 7-10 82

Halftime score: Indian Hills 44, Mesa 35; Three-point field goals: IHCC 9 (Gatling 4, Woldetensae 2, Allen 1, Williams 1, Murrell 1), MCC 11 (Kimbrel 3, Arms 3, Ross-Jones 1, Franklin 1, Beyers 1, Newman 1, Cheney 1)