By Matt Levins The Hawk Eye
WEST BURLINGTON — There was dead silence inside a jam-packed Loren Walker Arena as Southeastern Community College freshman guard Camryn Weston stepped to the free-throw line with 3.8 seconds left and his team clinging to a precarious two-point lead over rival Indian Hills on Wednesday night.
Swish. Swish.
As Weston's final free throw went through the basket, sealing the 22nd-ranked Blackhawks' 73-69 win over fourth-ranked Indian Hills, the crowd rose to its feat in a deafening roar, one that could be felt, if not heard, all the way to Ottumwa.
It was the third victory in the last four meetings for SCC over the rival Warriors, a team which had reeled off 12-straight wins over the Blackhawks before last year's game at Loren Walker Arena.
And after what happened last year, when SCC won the Region XI championship, only to see Indian Hills get selected to play in the national tournament instead of the Blackhawks, this one felt just a little sweeter.
"It as a great experience. Everybody was looking forward to this game, so it was a great experience to go out and do our thing," Weston said. "We can beat any team that comes our way, no matter who it is. As long as we stay together, we can beat any team."
"We proved that we can be a top school, a top team in the conference, in the country," said SCC sophomore forward Diew Moses, who scored 20 points. "That's what we're trying to do. Before the game Coach told us we had to prove everyone wrong because they are No. 4 and we are No. 22. Our only goal was to show that we can hang in there."
"It was a big team win. It showed that we can bounce back from anything," said SCC sophomore forward Aaris Bonds, who scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds. "It showed that we played together for 40 minutes and that's really what it takes. You have to believe in each other. We got the job done. Rankings don't matter. Numbers don't meany anything. If you come into this house you're going to lose."
"That's the energy and effort we have to play with. When you stick to the game plan, that the results that happen," SCC head coach Lorenzo Watkins said. "Sometimes it might not work, but we did everything we're supposed to do from one to 10. We put our game on the floor. Our guys played tough. We rebounded. We got some stops when we needed to. Down the stretch I thought our guys made some good plays. Some huge rebounds. I thought we got some stops and rebounded the ball. I'm proud of our guys."
SCC (17-4 overall, 2-0 Region XI) simply would not be intimidated by an Indian Hills team which had won 11 straight games and was considered bigger, stronger, quicker and, at least in the eyes of the NJCAA pollsters, better than the Blackhawks.
SCC won with things that can't be measured — heart and grit.
Watkins knew for the Blackhawks to win, they had to beat Indian Hills in three areas: rebounding, defense and turnovers. SCC outrebounded the Warriors, 40-35. The Blackhawks held Indian Hills to 44.2 percent shooting from the field. And they committed just 13 turnovers to Indian Hills' 17.
"Coach wanted all of us to rebound. Get the ball and push it. The more rebounds we get, the better it is for us," Moses said. "We've been playing bigger teams all year, so it was nothing new to us. We knew that they are bigger than us, but they are slower, so we used our speed to our advantage all night."
"It's all about being tough. We play small, so size doesn't really matter. It's all about being tough and going through them," Bonds said.
"Our guys are mentally tough. They are a good team. They are athletic, long. They have guys that can shoot it. I thought defensively Boubacar and Carlos did a great job on Grant-Foster and Childs. That's two guys that make their team go. Jeffries had one three and didn't hit anything after that. We were just solid. We stayed solid. We didn't do anything crazy. We stuck to our game plan," Watkins said.
In a first half which saw three ties and four lead changes, Indian Hills (17-3, 0-1) used an 11-3 run to open a 34-27 lead.
Unfazed, SCC opened the second half with a 15-2 run to forge a 42-6 advantage. Moses, who hit a clutch 3-pointer at the end of the first half, opened the second half with another one and a layup. Elias Ezenekwe hit a pair of treys and Bonds and Moses scored on putbacks to give the Blackhawks a six-point lead.
"Teams make runs. Other teams make runs We just came in the locker room and said we have to stop there runs and play more defense and that's how we got it done," Weston said.
"Coach always tells us that basketball is a game of runs, so we expected it. We weren't surprised. We knew it was going to happen. Our only goal was to make sure it didn't become a 30-point run. We did a good job of handling that," Moses said.
SCC would not trail again. Carlos Lemus, Jr. drilled a 3-pointer to break a 58-58 tie and Boubacar Kamissoko followed with a trey of his own.
Weston closed it out by sinking all four free throws in the final 21 seconds.
"It wasn't really pressure. You just have to knock down free throws. That's what we do. We shoot free throws all the time. Just knock them down and get the win. Just finish it," Weston said.
The Blackhawks proved their point.
"It was a huge win. Coming in with four losses, we had to come out with a huge win," Weston said.
"It feels good because now we see we are clicking and we're hitting our peak. Now we're just trying to progress. This isn't the ending. This is the beginning. We have to keep progressing. We have to keep this intensity level up the entire season," Moses said.
INDIAN HILLS (69)
Maurice Calloo 3-10 4-5 10, Loseni Kamara 1-2 0-0 2, Chris Childs 2-7 0-0 5, Tyon Grant-Foster 6-17 9-14 24, Drake Jeffries 2-3 0-0 6, Chris Payton 4-5 1-1 9, Malique Jacobs 3-5 3-4 9, Theo Bourgeois 0-0 0-0 0, Samba Kane 2-3 0-0 5. Totals: 23-52 17-24 69.
SCC (73)
Diew Moses 8-13 1-1 20, Aaris Bonds 4-10 1-2 9, Boubacar Kamissoko 5-10 0-0 11, Elias Ezenekwe 5-15 2-4 14, Carlos Lemus, Jr. 2-7 4-5 9, Camryn Weston 1-3 5-7 7, Gavin Kies 0-2 0-0 0, Kany Rey 0-1 0-0 0, Miganeh Abdi 0-1 0-0 0, Dadrian Hoambrecker 1-2 0-0 4. Totals: 26-64 13-19 73.
Halftime: Indian Hills 34, SCC 27. Fouls: Indian Hills 20, SCC 21. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None. 3-point goals: Indian Hills 6-22 (Grant-Foster 3-9, Jeffries 2-3, Childs 1-4, Kamara 0-1, Jacobs 0-1, Calloo 0-4), SCC 8-20 (Moses 3-4, Ezenekwe 2-5, Lemus 1-2, Hoambrecker 1-2, Kamissoko 1-4, Bonds 0-1, Kies 0-2). Rebounds: Indian Hills 35 (Grant-Foster 7, Payton 7), SCC 40 (Lemus 14). Assists: Indian Hills 7 (Jacobs 4), SCC 12 (Lemus 4). Steals: Indian Hills 11 (Grant-Foster 2), SCC 16 (Moses 2, Bonds 2, Kamissoko 2, Ezenekwe 2). Blocks: Indian Hills 11 (Grant-Foster 5), SCC 2 (Bonds 1, Kamissoko 1). Turnovers: Indian Hills 17 (Grant-Foster 8), SCC 13 (Hoambrecker 4).
Records: Indian Hills 17-3 overall (0-1 Region XI), SCC 17-4 (2-0).
