On a night where points were tough come by, the Indian Creek boys basketball team found a spark to begin the second half against Illinois Math & Science Academy in the championship contest of the 107th annual Little Ten Conference Tournament at Somonauk High School.

The No. 3-seeded Timberwolves (18-5) opened the third quarter with a 13-3 burst against the No. 5-seeded Titans (13-7) and eventually posted a 40-29 victory to earn the Al Stegman Championship Trophy.

The team’s combined 69 points ties with the 2013 title game for the lowest total since 1947. It’s the third LTC Tournament title in school history, the others coming in 2020 and 2021.

Indian Creek - which led 9-8 after one quarter and 16-13 at halftime - shot 21% in the first half but made good on 10 of its 19 shots in the second half.

“We had so many opportunities, so many good looks in the first half and just couldn’t seem to get the ball to go through the hoop,” Indian Creek coach Nolan Govig said. “Every team is going to have nights like this.

“I told the guys at halftime that our defense kept us in the game, and it was going to win us this game if we continued to play at the level we were playing. I knew we’d shoot the ball better in the second half and we did. We came out and put together a good run to start and gave ourselves a nice lead and some breathing room.”

Indian Creek’s Payton Hueber led the third-quarter charge netting seven of his game-high nine points. Cooper Rissman had seven points, four rebounds, three and four assists, while Logan Schrader added six points and a game-best 13 rebounds.

Schrader had a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the final buzzer rim-out in last year’s title game loss to Hinckley-Big Rock.

“It’s stuck with me for sure. I wish that shot would have fallen and it would have been a different outcome,” Schrader said. “My goal was to use that as a little motivation to get back to this game this year and we did. We really wanted this game and we got it.

“It was a tough night offensively for everyone it seemed, the shots just weren’t falling. But we’ve had games like this before, and we all know even more than any other game; these are the nights where playing good defense is the most important thing.”

Rissman said that along with strong defense - which held IMSA to just 10 of 47 [21%] shooting for the game - staying patient against the Titans’ 2-3 zone defense was a key in the win.

“Our defense won this game for us, but I also think while we didn’t shoot great we were staying patient and taking good shots,” Rissman said. “Coach [Govig] told us at halftime to relax and that some shots would start falling for us in the second half and he was right.

“This is awesome. This was one of our team goals and we reached it. It wasn’t pretty, but we were able to stick together and get it done.”

IMSA, which joined the LTC in 2021-22 season, was making the program’s first championship game appearance.

Neil Sitapara led the Titans with seven points, four rebounds and three steals, while Benjamin Dixson (four rebounds) and Lota Onwuameze (five rebounds) each registered six points.

“I don’t feel like we came out really ready to play. We really struggled with execution and the things the past two games that got us into this game we didn’t do,” IMSA coach Brad Snead said. “Our game plan defensively was to pack it in and make Indian Creek beat us from the perimeter. I don’t think they hurt us there, but we just couldn’t hit a shot for most of the game.

“Their run to start the second half ended up being a huge key in the game in my eyes. We just couldn’t put good back-to-back possessions together after that.”