Through three games, Indian River High School’s varsity basketball team has dispatched both Lake Forest and Seaford — primarily because of the thriving inside-out game of Jeremy Purnell, Tyree Oliver and Keion Sturgis.
Coastal Point • RUSLANA LAMBERT
Jeremy Purnell goes up for two against Seaford on Tuesday, Dec. 11.
Coastal Point • RUSLANA LAMBERT
Keoin Sturgis shoots above the Seaford defenders in IR’s 58-52 win.The Indians trio combined for all but 10 of their team points in a 58-52 win over Seaford on Dec. 11, to extend their record to 3-0 overall and in the conference.
Purnell improved upon a 19-point performance in a 62-61 win over Lake Forest on Dec. 7 with a 23-point performance against Seaford.
Oliver followed up his career-high 14 points against Lake Forest with 10 points on 3-3 three-point shooting in the win over Seaford. And in both wins, Oliver has cumulatively sunk 5-7 from beyond the three-point line.
Sturgis was second in points on the team and scored 15 in the winning effort.
The key to the Indians’ offense is balance. Purnell, physically, is second to none in the state and will command major attention from opponents in an attempt to stop him in the paint. And when teams decide to collapse on Purnell, Oliver and Sturgis, among others, have proved that they can make open jumpers.
“That’s the thing,” Purnell said. “If you try to cut off one of us, then you have to cut off all of us. Like the Three Musketeers, we’re all for one and one for all.”
In years past, Indians basketball teams were eroded by bad attitudes and power struggles over who would take shots in critical situations.
This year, the team has been given a fresh coat of paint and is playing inspired basketball, according to first-year assistant coach Brad Morris.
“Everybody’s heart is in it,” Morris said with certainty. “Everybody’s excited to come to practice and work hard.”
Morris noted that there was some question of how good this year’s team would be, considering that team would be in transition since both Morris and Mead were taking over for long-time Delaware high school basketball coach Pat Kelly. But during this time of transition, Morris said the best way to maintain their momentum is to not get ahead of themselves.
“Forget the hype and all that,” Morris said. “We need to take it one game at a time and let our game speak for itself.”
There are still a lot of basketball games to be played, and the Indians’ coaching staff believes that they can be competitive and win — if they only continue with this old sports cliché in mind.
Indian River will travel to Woodbridge tonight for a 7:15 p.m. tip-off. The Indians will return the following week to host Nandua on Dec. 19, for a 7:15 p.m. tip-off.