Dunks, no-look passes and the century mark: Timberwolves put up 100 in win over Hiawatha

SHABBONA - Cam Russell thew down a couple dunks, Drew Gaston was going behind the back and between the legs with his passes, and the Indian Creek boys basketball team hit a milestone on senior night in a 100-19 win over Hiawatha on Thursday.

Indian Creek scored 60 straight points over a 13:32 stretch between the first and second quarters. IC coach Joe Piekarz said it was the first time in his 15 years at the school the program posted 100 points, and it’s believed to be the first time in school history the team reached the century mark.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 15

Hiawatha Hayden Bingaman (4) goes up for a shot in the first quarter Feb. 25th while taking being defended by Indian Creek player. (David Toney for Shaw Local)

“We came close a lot of times last season but never got it,” Gaston said. “It’s pretty exciting to finally hit 100 points, especially in high school when you only have eight-minute quarters. It’s pretty hard.”

Piekarz started just one of his regular four players and the Hawks (3-5, 2-5 Little 10 Conference) scored six of the first eight points in the game.

But after Russell came in, he scored the next nine points for the Timberwolves, punctuated by his first dunk. Hiawatha led 9-7, but the Timberwolves scored the next 60 points.

Of the five regular Indian Creek starters only Davis Stryker played in the second half.

“Logan Suddeth came in and hit a bunch of 3s. Erik Jernigan played well,” Piekarz said. “It’s nice when you have a night like senior night like tonight, you’re able to have those guys get some good minutes and contribute like they did.”

First-year Hiawatha coach Griffin McNeal said he thought his team struggled against the press early – they committed 38 turnovers in the game, leading to 42 IC points – but had more bright spots in the second half.

“Our guys in the second half didn’t quit,” McNeal said. “They received the message. They didn’t quit. They moved the ball a little bit better. I know there’s some tough games in the past against this team where we might have picked up some technical fouls, and that’s something else we’re really working on, our discipline. I’m proud of them on that end.”

Gaston, a day after setting the single-game assist record with 13 against Serena, was dishing again. He went behind the back in the second quarter, a pass that Jordan Wortman turned into a 3-pointer, and bounced a pass off the backboard for Russell to grab and lay in.

“When we get a bigger lead we try to do things, try to get whatever we have in the crowd a little excited,” Gaston said. “It’s definitely fun when we get a bigger lead so we can try new things.”

McNeal, a G-K graduate, said that despite the lopsided loss Thursday he’s seeing improvement in his team.

“They’re playing hard, in the last week especially,” McNeal said. “Early in the season, we picked up an early win. But I echoed we can play a lot harder. Run back on defense, play more unselfish on offense. They’re definitely understanding that and starting to do it. It’s difficult to see it when it’s a little bit of a beat down, but we are improving every game and that’s all you can ask out of the kids.”

By the numbers: Wortman finished with 15 points, Suddeth with eight, Jernigan with seven and Gage Oleson with seven for IC. Russell led the way with 23 and Gaston added 18 and eight steals. Austin Thomas led the Hawks with nine and Jacob Smith added seven.

Beyond the stats: Russell, Gaston and Michael Lampson each played about 13 minutes in the win.

They said it: “When you have a shortened season like this you take advantage of any opportunity you get,” Piekarz said. “They did a nice job for the minutes they were out there, doing a nice job of setting the tone and doing the things that we try to have them do regardless of who we’re playing. Just do what you do. And they did a nice job of that.”

Up next: The Timberwolves face LaMoille on Friday, and the Hawks host Serena.