The Indianola basketball teams swept Warren County rival Norwalk to wrap up the Little Hawkeye Conference season Friday night, the girls winning 52-40 and the boys 66-24.
Brayden Drea hit four three-pointers to start the game for the Indians as they took a 15-8 lead after the first, then continued to pour it on to lead 33-20 at the halftime break. Norwalk could not find the bottom of the net in the third quarter as the lead ballooned past 30, and the Indians ended up outscoring the Warriors 23-4 in the quarter as both teams emptied the bench throughout the fourth. Casey Glascock led the Indians with 16 points, while Redek Born had 13 to top the Warriors.
The Warriors girls held the Indians scoreless for the first four minutes of the game but only managed three themselves, as the offense would pick up for both teams after the slow start to run out the first half, Indianola leading 13-12 after the first and maintaining a slim lead to halftime 21-18. Norwalk went on a 6-2 run to lead 24-23 to begin the third, but the outside shooting began to pick up in the third for the Indians however, with Lauren Blake, Brynn Ortlund, and Kendall McDanial each hitting an outside shot as the lead build a 37-31 lead going into the final quarter. The Indians led by 10 with just three minutes to go, but the Warriors hit back to back three’s to get the lead down to four, but Lauren Blake hit the next three to build the lead back up and the Indians did not look back.
Head coach Jeff Janssen tells KNIA Sports sophomore Kendall McDanial was able to see the court for the first time this season after shoulder surgery, and getting her back was a testament to her hard work and will be a big boost for the Indians in the postseason. Blake led all scorers with 23 points, while Jojo Bice scored 13 to lead the Warriors.
The Indians and Warriors girls regular season comes to a close, and Norwalk will take on Newton at home on Wednesday, while the Indians await the winner of Oskaloosa/Fairfield on Saturday.
The Indians boys will take on Waukee today on the road, while the Warriors travel to ADM on Tuesday.