INDIAN HILLS 74, ODESSA, TEXAS 68 – The No. 5 seeded Indian Hills basketball team advanced to the NJCAA semifinals with a thrilling 74-68 win over No. 13 Odessa College, Texas Wednesday night. The Warriors advance to Thursday's semifinal at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Indian Hills knocked off the Wranglers in the national quarterfinals for the second consecutive season to make it two straight trips to the semifinals of the national tournament.
The 2024 season marks just the third time in program history the Warriors reached the semifinal round in consecutive seasons, joining the historic run from 1997-99 that saw three straight national titles. The Warriors meet No. 1 ranked Barton Community College at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The Warriors were led by sophomore TJ Morris (Queens, NY/Northeastern Oklahoma A&M) who poured in a team-high 19 points while adding six assists, four rebounds, three steals, and a blocked shot. Fellow sophomore Chris Mpaka (Kinsasha, Congo/Frank Phillips) proved to be a force in the paint all night long, scoring 16 points on 6-8 shooting while grabbing a game-high 17 rebounds.
Trevion LaBeaux (Waterloo, IA/Ames) chipped in 13 points while Braden Sparks (Villa Rica, GA/Mercer) led the Warriors with seven assists and tallied 11 points. Kheni Briggs (Kannapolis, NC/Charleston Southern) came off the bench to knock down three key three-point shots for the Warrior offense.
The Warriors saw another efficient shooting night from the free throw line, going 17-22 (77.3 percent) from the stripe to aid in the victory. The Indian Hills facilitators assisted on 19 of the team's 25 field goals on the night, a season-high 76.0 percent of its makes. The Warriors also limited its miscues on the night, totaling just 11 turnovers in the win.
Along with Mpaka's presence down low, the Warriors outscored the Wranglers 34-20 in the paint and used a 14-2 advantage on fast break points.
Indian Hills erased an 8-point deficit in the first half as Briggs connected on a three at the 6:07 mark to spark the offense. Four points from Morris and a clutch three from Sparks contributed to a 9-0 spurt for the Warriors that led to a 34-32 lead at halftime.
Morris beat the shot clock buzzer with a three to open the second half and the Warrior offense continued to build its advantage. A three from Sparks at the 13:22 mark pushed the lead to 10, 48-38, but the Wranglers managed to hang around.
The 13th seeded squad from Odessa, TX eventually knotted the game at 63-all with under four to play, but it was Briggs again with a key three-point shot to put Indian Hills back on top at the 3:14 mark. Indian Hills connected on six free throws over the closing minutes to seal the victory and punch its ticket to the semis.
Wednesday's matchup was the fourth all-time postseason meeting between the two teams at the Hutchinson Sports Arena with the Warriors winning all four contests, including last year's overtime winner.
Head coach Josh Sash becomes just the second coach in school history to reach the semifinal round of the national tournament in his first season, joining former coach Mike Capaccio whose 1998-99 team won the national title, the third of three straight championships.
Thursday's affair which can be viewed on ESPN+. The Cougars defeated No. 8 Northwest Florida State College 87-73 in Wednesday's quarterfinal.
INDIAN HILLS 63, WALLACE STATE 58 – Indian Hills rallied from a halftime deficit to upend Wallace State, Ala. in the second round of the NJCAA Basketball Championship.
The fifth-seeded Warriors, trailing by eight at the halftime break to No. 21 seed Wallace State, outscored the Lions by 13 over the final 20 minutes to pull away for the postseason victory in its opening contest of the 2024 tournament.
With the win, Indian Hills secured its 30th all-time victory at the national tournament and advance to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season. used an efficient second half to knock off the upset-minded Lions. Sophomores Davontae Hall (Chicago, IL/Hyde Park), Braden Sparks (Villa Rica, GA/Mercer), and Trevion LaBeaux (Waterloo, IA/Ames) combined for 38 of the team's 45 second half points to push the Warriors to victory. Hall posted 15 points in the second half alone to cap the night with a team-high 19 points.
LaBaeux posted 15 points, including 12 in the second stanza while Sparks scored all 11 points in the final half of play. Sophomore Chris Mpaka (Kinshasha, Congo/Frank Phillips) tallied a game-high 13 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass as the Warriors outrebounded the Lions 39-34 in the win.
The win proved to be the Warriors' 11th opening round victory in 19 all-time appearances at the national tournament. Tuesday's victory sets up a showdown with No. 13 Odessa College (TX) in Wednesday's quarterfinal bout, the second consecutive year the two teams will meet in the round of eight. Indian Hills knocked off the Wranglers in a 79-75 overtime thriller last year to advance to the semifinals.
Tuesday's matchup saw the two sides shoot an equal 39.7 percent from the floor as each squad shot 23-58 overall. The Warriors posted a 78.6 percent clip (11-14) from the free throw line while the Lions managed to go just 5-13 (38.5 percent) from the stripe which proved to be the difference maker. The Warriors outscored Wallace State 34-18 in the paint and tallied 14 points off nine Lion turnovers. The Warriors committed just eight turnovers in the contest, the second-fewest in a game this year.
The opening half favored the Lions as the NJCAA Region 23 champions Wallace State jumped out to a 9-2 advantage over the Warriors. The Indian Hills offense came to life with an 11-0 spurt of their own thanks to five quick points from Amarion Nimmers (Rock Island, IL/Iowa) to jump on top 13-10.
The Lions bounced back with another run of their own and eventually pulled ahead for a 26-18 halftime advantage, holding Indian Hills to just 1-10 from three-point range.
Wallace State took an early double-digit lead in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Warriors stayed within striking distance. William Beugre-Kassi (Pontoise, France/Albert Thomas) and Sparks connected on back-to-back three-point shots midway through the frame to even the score at 37-all. Indian Hills took its first lead of the second half on a layup from LaBeaux at the 8:05 mark for a 43-41 advantage.
The Warriors extended the lead by as many as five, only to see the Lions claw back to take a 47-46 lead. From there on out, the Warriors relied on its national tournament veterans Hall and LaBeaux who combined for 12 consecutive points and 13 of the final 15 over the closing minutes to lead the Warriors to the win.
