Junior guard Cooper Nailor took a charge on a game-winning layup for Dallas Center-Grimes to force overtime in the Indianola boys basketball game on the road last night, where the Indians outlasted the No. 4 Mustangs 76-72 to earn the upset, while the girls fell 38-35 in a doubleheader heard live on 94.3 KNIA.
The Indians boys had lost three in a row coming into the contest, but didn’t lose confidence with aggressive driving to the basket throughout the first half that would get the Mustangs scorers into foul trouble early, leading at the end of the first 16-15, but a wild second quarter with 10-combined three point shots led to the Indians trailing at halftime 41-37.
Indianola outscored DCG 15-8 in the third quarter to take a lead 52-49. The fourth quarter saw both teams match each other throughout, and with the score tied at 65 DCG held the ball for over a minute to take the final shot when Nailor drew the offensive foul to force extra time. The Indians shot 5-6 from the foul line, including Drew Kingery going 2-2 in a tie game situation with 10 seconds remaining to pick up the upset win. Indians head coach Brett Watson said despite a three-game losing streak coming into the contest, his guys never quit.
“I’m just so proud of these guys, it’s just amazing what faith can do. They just kept believing, some things haven’t gone our way. Some of it was our felt, other things was out of our control, but they just kept believing. We needed something like this, especially on the road against such a great team. And hopefully we can build on this, this was such a great win for us. I’m so proud of the kids for keeping the course and not getting down too much.”
Kingery led the Indians with 25 points.
The #15 in class 5A Indians and #3 in class 4A Mustangs girls were locked in a defensive battle the entire contest, with the Mustangs leading nearly the entire first half but never by more than two possessions, leading to a 20-18 halftime deficit for the Indians. Indianola scored a quick six points coming into the third quarter to take a brief lead, but would only muster 11 points the rest of the half, and came up short late in the fourth despite forcing several turnovers on defense. The Indians took a brief 35-34 lead late, but DCG scored the remaining four points to win it in the final minutes. Lauren Blake led the Indians in scoring with 11 points.
The Indians girls are now 13-4 on the season and 8-2 in conference play, while the boys improve to 9-6 and 5-5. Both teams will next play Tuesday hosting Grinnell.