×

Warriors push past MCC

Indian Hills turns back Tigers in regional semis

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON - Marshalltown Community College sophomore Eduardo Lane (30) gets by Indian Hills defender Tyon Grant-Foster (13) for a shot during the second half of the Tigers’ 76-65 loss to the Warriors in the NJCAA Division I Region XI semifinals on Wednesday in Ottumwa. Lane finished with 14 points in the loss for MCC.

OTTUMWA — The Tigers had the Warriors right where they wanted them.

With 12 minutes, 40 seconds left in the second half, the Marshalltown Community College men’s basketball team led Indian Hills 51-45 in the NJCAA Division I Region XI semifinals on Wednesday and everything was going MCC’s way.

The Warriors took a timeout to discuss how they would attack the rest of the way out, since the seven-point halftime lead for the Tigers didn’t seem to be going anywhere, but whatever Indian Hills discussed during that break flipped a switch that wouldn’t be turned off.

Over the next seven minutes the Warriors would go on an 18-3 run to turn a six-point deficit into a nine-point advantage, and try as they might the Tigers couldn’t regain the spark from earlier in the game, leading to a 76-65 victory for Indian Hills and the end of the season for MCC.

Tiger head coach Brynjar Brynjarsson said you don’t need to look any further than that seven-minute stretch to see why his men aren’t heading to the regional finals.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON - Marshalltown Community College sophomore JJ Foster (2) puts up a 3-point shot as teammate Eduardo Lane (30) sets a screen on Indian Hills defender Nick Wagner (11) during the first half of the Tigers’ 76-65 loss to the Warriors in the NJCAA Division I Region XI semifinals on Wednesday in Ottumwa.

“We had a hard time getting a basket there, we ended up scoring 25 points in the second half and that had a lot to do with that run starting at about the 12 minute mark,” he said. “We just had a tough time finding the basket and the free-throw line kind of did us in there a little bit where we missed a front end of a one-and-one, missed one out of two, and we never were able to catch up on anything because we turned around and gave up points.”

Part of the problem was just pure fatigue due to a lack of depth for the Tigers (15-15). Freshman Nick Fleming, one of the regular rotation players throughout the year, suffered a high-ankle sprain in the regional quarterfinals against Northeast on Monday, so MCC was down to essentially six healthy bodies in the rotation.

That wasn’t an issue for the first 28 minutes of the contest, but in the closing minutes it was clear the Tigers were gassed and Indian Hills (26-5) took advantage of that fatigue.

“We might have been short handed a little bit and we basically had four guys play 40 minutes tonight,” Brynjarsson said. “When it came down to it we just ran out of gas, and that’s kind of been our story for this season.”

As for how his team was able to figure things out after struggling mightily in essentially the first three quarters of the game, Warriors head coach Hank Plona said it was a great defensive effort down the stretch that got the momentum rolling.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

“I thought Marshalltown had an outstanding gameplan and they played a heck of a basketball game,” Plona said. “We had to start defending, when you are behind like that if we keep letting them score, it had the feel of a game where if they got to 80 we were going to lose, I thought. Our defense, our intensity and our rebounding at that end of the floor seemed to flip a switch and that led to us getting some runouts and some fast breaks, and that’s when we are at our best.”

Indian Hills now moves on to face Southeastern in the Region XI semifinals on Saturday in Ottumwa. The Warriors and Blackhawks split their two meetings this season, and Plona said it’s going to be a tough task to beat them a second time.

“They are as physical and athletic and strong of a team as we have played all year,” he said. “Our only loss of 2019 was at their place, so I don’t think motivation should be any issue.”

After finally ending the long run, the Tigers kept the lead at a manageable seven or nine points, and with two minutes left it was still just a seven-point lead for Indian Hills. That all changed with 1:40 remaining, however, when Devontae Lane rose up and nailed a 3-point shot from the right corner to give his team a 10-point advantage that would tough to overcome.

“Lane hit a big shot there to put them up by 10, give him a lot of credit,” Brynjarsson said. “That was something by design, we were going to let him shoot that and he stepped up and made it, more power to him.”

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

Lane came into the game as a 26 percent 3-point shooter, and he was 1-for-9 behind the arc during Iowa Community College Athletic Conference play this season, but he said when his name was called he knew he could step up for his team.

“It was just a lot of confidence I have in myself and the coaches and just knowing how guys have been playing me lately,” the Warrior sophomore from Iowa City said. “I was just really excited about making the shot, not hesitating about it and stepping up. It felt good when it left my hands.”

Lane finished the game with 11 points, and he was joined in double figures by three other Warriors as Iziah James had a game-high 22 points and Torrey Patton and Tyon Grant-Foster had 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Even with that shot going down, Brynjarsson said it wasn’t until about 30 seconds later that he knew the game was out of hand.

“With about 1:15 left we ran a play to get Kelton [Edwards] an open shot in the corner and he was wide open, once we missed that I really felt like it was going to be beyond a long shot to get back in,” Brynjarsson said. “If we make that, that turns into a five or six point game. Right there was kind of the end of the game.”

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

Nobody was better on the court than Edwards in the first half. He had 14 points and was 5-for-6 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the 3-point line. In his first three halves of playoff basketball Edwards had 44 points, including his 30 points in the win over Northeast, but in the second half against Indian Hills he finally cooled down. Edwards went 1-for-9 in the second half for just two points, though his 16 points tied for the lead with fellow sophomore Juan Coffi.

Coffi, who was actually in his third year with the team after having a medical redshirt last season, finished his Tiger career with a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out with 30 seconds left.

Brynjarsson said it was a somber locker room after the game, but his guys have nothing to be disappointed about.

“At the end of the day I am just really proud of our kids,” he said. “The one thing I told them after the game is, ‘one thing they can’t take away from you is that you battled every single game. No matter what the score was, down by 20, down by 25, we came, we worked and we really became a team. If you didn’t play, those guys were behind the team 150 percent and we really as a group bonded all year. Whether you played or not, it was all about the team.'”

All six of the players who played the major minutes on Wednesday — Coffi, Edwards, Goran Vidovic, JJ Foster, Bassirou Ndiaye and Eduardo Lane — were sophomores and are now done playing for MCC. Brynjarsson said their impact on the program won’t go unnoticed, and now he has to return the favor by finding them a home to finish their college careers.

“Juan Coffi got 16 points and 13 rebounds. He played like a warrior and played hard, defended his butt off,” Brynjarsson said. “Kelton struggled to score in the second half but we lived and died a little bit with him there. Between Eduardo and Bass, they battled here tonight. Now the work comes into play of finding where those guys are going. We’ve got to rally behind these guys to where they can find a place to extend their academics and hopefully play basketball.”

After spending three years in Marshalltown playing for the Tigers, Coffi was understandably emotional, but he also walked out of the gym with his head held high.

“I have enjoyed my time playing for MCC,” the third-year sophomore from Barcelona, Spain, said. “I’ve been through good times and tough times but at the end of the day I am glad I’ve had people around me who’ve had my back and I’ve had their back too. Whether it was inside or outside the court, I have tried to represent MCC as well as I could. I am just proud of my team and my teammates and coaches, all the people who came here to support us. I am proud of the love we received.”

First Round

Monday, Feb. 25

Marshalltown CC 67, Northeast 66

Semifinals

Wednesday, Feb. 27

Southeastern 91, Iowa Western 74

Indian Hills 76, Marshalltown CC 65

Championship

Saturday, March 2

No. 2 Southeastern (26-4) at No. 1 Indian Hills (26-5), 7 p.m.

——

Indian Hills CC 76, Marshalltown CC 65

At Ottumwa

MCC (15-15) — Juan Coffi 5-15 4-4 13, JJ Foster 2-10 2-5 6, Goran Vidovic 2-5 2-2 7, Bassirou Ndiaye 3-4 0-0 6, Kelton Edwards 6-15 0-0 16, Palmi Thorsson 0-0 0-0 0, Eduardo Lane 5-8 4-8 14. TOTALS 23-57 12-19 65.

INDIAN HILLS (26-5) — Devontae Lane 3-6 4-4 11, Iziah James 7-13 6-6 21, Josh Nicholas 1-2 0-0 2, JD Muila 2-5 0-0 4, Torrey Patton 4-8 4-4 12, Lance Singh 0-1 0-0 0, Nick Wagner 3-9 0-0 8, Tyon Grant-Foster 4-10 2-2 11, Tajim Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Anthony Bratton 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Chisom 1-6 2-4 4. TOTALS 26-61 18-20 76.

Halftime–MCC 40-33. 3-Point Goals–MCC 7-21 (Edwards 4-8, Coffi 2-5, Vidovic 1-4, Foster 0-4), Indian Hills 6-20 (James 2-5, Wagner 2-7, Lane 1-2, Grant-Foster 1-2, Nicholas 0-1, Patton 0-1, Singh 0-1, Chisom 0-1). Rebounds–MCC 35 (Coffi 13), Indian Hills 40 (Patton, Grant-Foster 6). Assists–MCC 9 (Foster 5), Indian Hills 12 (James 9). Total Fouls–MCC 17, Indian Hills 16. Fouled Out–Coffi.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today