With only three games left in this basketball season, Indian River head coach Pat Kelly and the rest of the team want to finish out strong, following consecutive wins over Lake Forest and Seaford.
Coastal Point • JESSE PRYOR:
An Indian River player goes for a layup against Seaford recently.“At this point, we have a challenge to finish the season on an upswing,” Kelly said following a 62-56 home win over Seaford on Feb. 6. “And if we can do that, then it makes sticking with it worth it, when you finish strong.”
Indian River (7-12) lost eight straight this season, including a tough stretch into the Henlopen North that marked a low point for the program.
“[The Henlopen South] have all gone through the ringer,” Kelly said of the conference’s tough run against their northern counterparts. “It’s tough when they have more bodies than you.”
“It would be nice if they had us play one northern team and then two southern teams, instead of sending us through the meat grinder,” he continued.
The Indians throttled the Blue Jays through three quarters behind a staunch defensive press, a sharp-shooting clinic by guards Jamar Manuel and Morgan Hunt, and forward Preston Irving’s ability to get to the basket.
Indians guard Tyree Oliver led the defensive attack with five steals and efficiently divvied out six assists. Hunt added five more assists but also finished with 11 points on 3-4 shooting from beyond the three-point line.
Hunt and Manuel combined to for 6-7 from beyond the arc and each made three consecutive three-pointers at different points through three quarters.
Manuel’s third consecutive three-pointer gave the Indians a 12-point lead. And Hunt’s two third-quarter three-pointers ignited a 9-0 Indian River run to reclaim the lead.
Indian River lost the lead briefly, though, and trailed Seaford 34-33 midway through the third quarter. But they then rocketed ahead in the fourth quarter. They turned a one-point deficit into a cushy 15-point lead with five minutes left to play. And, fortunately for the Indians, they were able to hold onto the win — because Seaford didn’t lie down.
The Seaford game marked the first action for Indians center Jeremy Purnell since he returned from a broken hand in mid-December. And though his dunk at the buzzer made for his only points of the game, Purnell did provide a physical presence defensively and on the glass. But leg cramps sidelined him with 3:47 left in the game and his absence combined with lack of urgency fueled another Seaford comeback.
Seaford outscored Indian River 16-9 in the final five minutes of the game. And without Purnell’s big body in the middle, Seaford was able to expose Indian River inside.
Seaford forward Josh Owens scored eight of his 12 points in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter. They whittled the Indian River lead from 15 points to four and then two points, making the game a one-possession game with only one minute remaining.
And, in crunch time, Kelly inadvertently called a timeout they didn’t have after an Irving offensive rebound. It was an attempt to hold the ball but instead sent Seaford to the line for two technical foul shots.
Seaford made one of two and missed their next shot attempt on the ensuing possession, which all but sealed the Indian River win. Irving’s sixth and final rebound in the final 30 seconds of the game set him up to go to the line to extend the lead.
He sank one of two for part of his game-high 24 points to give Indian River a four-point lead before Purnell could put the icing on the cake with his buzzer-beating two-hand jam.
Kelly and the Indians were pleased to win the game. But Kelly wasn’t pleased with his players’ lack of focus at key points in the game.
“We’ve got to learn to finish someone off when we get up, and it starts with the guys having a game-face,” Kelly said. “For me, [basketball] is very serious. It’s a work of passion. And there are times when you don’t need that intensity outside of the game. But when you’re playing, those are the times that they need to maintain their focus. And that is what the kids have to realize.”
But despite a lapse here or there, Indian River came through. And it’s because they’re still striving for a goal.
“Man, we’re hungry,” Irving said. “We haven’t been winning, but right now we’re trying to keep it moving.”
“We want to try to make the playoffs. We don’t know if it’s possible, but we’re still going to try,” he continued.
The Indians will continue play against the Henlopen South with an away game at Woodbridge tonight and then round out the regular season with home games against Dover and Laurel.
The Laurel game was originally scheduled for Feb. 16 and will now be played on Feb. 15.