T'Wolves pull away in second quarter

SHABBONA -- Indian Creek boys basketball coach Joe Piekarz wasn't exactly sure what kind of team he would have this season after some key graduation losses.

But after a solid Ashton-Franklin Center tournament performance last week and a 69-41 nonconference win over IMSA in the Timberwolves' home opener Monday, Indian Creek stands an impressive 4-1 overall.

"We do have a somewhat inexperienced team," Piekarz said. "We lost some guys from last year, so it's good to see what we have and who's going to step up. Four-and-one? I'll take it."

The key to Monday's win over IMSA, which was making its season debut, was a second-quarter scoring barrage, keyed by junior Blake Mitchell, one of the few Timberwolves returnees. Mitchell scored 10 of his 14 points in the quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers. As a team, Indian Creek nailed five 3-pointers as part of a 32-point quarter.

"We started moving the ball better, quick passes, got guys open and knocked down some shots," Mitchell said.

Indian Creek was up only 13-10 after the first quarter before taking care of business. The Timberwolves opened the second with a 14-3 run and after the Titans scored a point, went on a 16-2 run to put the game away, leading 43-16.

"First-game jitters, trying to get a feel for one another," IMSA coach Renard Miller said of the loss. "We started to calm down. We can play if we're patient. We were speeding the game up and we didn't have to."

The game was firmly in hand, but Indian Creek scored only six points in the third quarter, missing several easy shots and allowing the Titans to open the third with an 11-3 run to cut the lead to 48-29. After scoring the first six points of the fourth, IMSA sliced the lead to 51-35 before Indian Creek outscored the Titans 18-6 down the stretch to salt away the win.

"I think we just got lazy there," Mitchell said. "For the first five minutes (of the third), nobody could finish down low. But we turned it around in the fourth."

Despite the good feelings of the second quarter, Piekarz made a point after the game of focusing on the lackluster third quarter.

"That was rough," Piekarz said. "We got into a lull and we just couldn't get over it for a while. That's something we'll have to work on for next time."

Nathan Peterson paced the Timberwolves with 16 points, followed by Mitchell's 14 (all coming in the first half) and 10 off the bench for Josh Lazzarotto. Trevor Hahm led the Titans with 11 points before fouling out.

Boys Basketball: Indian Creek 69, IMSA 41