The Indian River Indians varsity boys’ basketball team has never been short of players who could score points in clutch situations, and this season is no different.
Coastal Point • RUSLANA LAMBERT
Tyree Oliver sets up the game-winning free-throw against Milford on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
Three-year varsity point guard and starter Tyree Oliver has always been a terrific ball-handler and “quarterback” in the way he ran the offense during his previous two seasons, but he has never had the burden of having to lead his team in scoring, with players like Brian Bell, Jamar Manuel and Curtis Chandler playing the wings.
But with 13 ticks left in the fourth quarter of a tied game against the Milford Buccaneers on Dec. 4, Oliver patiently dribbled the length of the court and held for the last shot. He didn’t sink the shot, but he did get Bucs forward Wayne Spence to commit to a pump-fake and drew contact on the shot attempt, giving himself a chance to seal the game with a free-throw.
Oliver calmly drained the game-winner from the charity stripe, as he done all game (6-7 and scoring five free-throws in the fourth quarter) to give the Indians a 62-61 win and to put them (1-0, 1-0) in the winning column to start the 2006-07 season.
Oliver also was 50 percent from beyond the three-point line (2-4) and was 3-5 from the floor, for a combined 14 points.
“My point guard, Tyree, lived up to being the point guard,” Indians first-year head coach Phil Mead said. “He lived up to being the captain.”
And while Oliver came out the hero by sinking the game-winning free throw, credit for the win was also given to Indians center Jeremy Purnell, who was five blocks short of a triple-double.
Purnell, a four-year varsity starter, had shown flashes of potential over the past three years but proved this week that his game has blossomed by recording game-highs in points and rebounds.
He displayed a remarkably soft touch offensively, inside the paint, converting 10 of 17 field goals for 21 points, and ravaged the boards for 16 rebounds and altered five shots.
Mead credited Purnell’s performance to extended low-post work during practice.
“We’ve been working with him on his low-post [game] and it showed,” Mead said. “J.P. was a big key.”
Mead, unlike former head coach Pat Kelly, made Purnell a focal point of the Indians’ in-bound plays, which he converted on three of four attempts.
Milford lacked height and was physically out-matched against Purnell without senior Eric Richards, who died tragically in car crash on his way to work at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year. The team honored Richards at the Dec. 4 game.
Coastal Point • RUSLANA LAMBERT
Sean Lewis and Cory Miles both jump up for a rebound against Milford. Lewis came down with the ball.
Only two days earlier, the Washington Redskins had honored their slain all-pro safety Sean Taylor in front of their home crowd during the team’s Week 13 game against the Buffalo Bills.
And prior to their game against Indian River, the Bucs — donning T-shirts with Richards’ image — paid homage to their own teammate with a moment of silence. From there, Milford played inspired basketball and led Indians River 33-23 heading into halftime.
Milford head coach B.J. Joseph said he felt confident that if his team could string a few baskets together to start the second half then his team would be in a good position to win the regular-season opener.
“Both teams seemed like they had some first-game jitters,” Joseph said. “We played sort of sloppy in the first half but were able to head into halftime with a 10-point lead and we didn’t put them away. If we could’ve come out strong and scored six or eight points to start the third quarter then it would’ve made it difficult for them to win.”
Mead, on the other hand, said he was pleased with his team’s performance given the fact that Milford played hard and made the Indians work for a full four quarters.
“This game was really important and is going to be a confidence builder,” Mead said. “I was glad Milford played well, because it lets us know what we’re up against for the rest of the season.”
Indian River will continue conference play when they travel to Lake Forest tonight for a 7:15 p.m. tip-off and will return home Jan. 11 to host Seaford.