SHABBONA – The Indian Creek boys basketball team’s defense stymied IMSA’s offense Tuesday in a 65-25 victory.
The Timberwolves recorded 13 steals and forced 29 turnovers, while limiting the Titans to quarter totals of 7, 8, 0 and 10 points.
“[Defense] is a big contribution to our wins,” Timberwolves senior guard Kyle Lieving said. “We try to hold teams under 10 points a quarter and I think we really did that [Tuesday]. We had a big defensive push after halftime and it really set the tone.”
Lieving said Indian Creek (8-1) used its tenacious defense to score easy points in order to make the offense flow naturally instead of pushing plays that might not be there.
The transition game generated by those turnovers led to open looks for senior guard Jaron Todd, who scored a game-high 22 points. He shot 6 for 13 from the 3-point line.
“It was one of those nights where I figured they are going in anyway, so I might as well take a couple more,” Todd said.
Besides Todd’s offensive production from the perimeter, the Timberwolves’ inside game was scoring at will against the Titans, and has been throughout the early season.
Junior center Garrison Govig scored 14 points in the paint, including a 10-point second quarter. Govig outscored the Titans, 10-8, by himself in the second quarter.
“We have an inside-outside game,” Todd said. “Sometimes our outside scoring scores a little more and when we’re not hitting them, we can just give it to the big guy.”
Junior guard Taylor Johnson led the Timberwolves with six rebounds, while Govig added five. Junior forward Garrett Post was the third Indian Creek player to finish in double-figures with 12 points – six coming after offensive rebounds.
Timberwolves’ coach Joe Piekarz said he was pleased with his team’s performance, especially at the start of the game and the start of the second half. Indian Creek outscored the Titans, 27-7, in the first quarter and 16-0 in the third.
As Indian Creek gets ready for the long haul of the season and the Plano Holiday Classic next week, Piekarz is set on further developing the inside-outside scoring attack and the team’s stellar defense.
“We’re playing well as a team and we’re being unselfish offensively,” Piekarz said. “Defensively, we’re taking pride in trying to make teams have a tough time scoring. We’re trying to take it game by game and I think we’re doing a nice job of winning the game in front of us.”
