Indian Creek’s Adam Crouch makes a steal during a county tournament game at Greenwood Christian.
Indian Creek junior Landon Sichting, generally not called on to deliver pregame speeches, asked coaches if he could address teammates before they took the court against Martinsville.
Injured three nights earlier during the Braves’ 61-43 triumph at North Putnam on Dec. 16, the 6-foot-4 center had news to share.
And not good news. Sichting had just been informed that his left knee would require surgery and months of rehabilitation, forcing him to miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
“There was a loose ball kind of rolling out of bounds, and he dove and grabbed the ball and threw it over his head,” said Indian Creek coach Drew Glentzer, remembering his squad’s season-altering sequence. “He never got up.
“Landon plays so hard, and is on the floor a lot. But I’m an optimist and thought maybe it was this, or maybe it was that.”
Indian Creek started the season with a 6-1 record, but all that early promise suddenly seemed capable of steering itself in the direction of mediocrity.
Sichting played in the Braves’ first seven games, averaging 13.6 points, seven rebounds and 1.7 steals.
Even without him on the court, Indian Creek rattled off five consecutive victories — starting with the emotional post-speech 60-57 victory over the Artesians — until a loss to Greenwood Christian in the first round of the county tournament ignited a five-game skid.
“Those first five games, we were playing for Landon,” said senior forward Trent Volz, who is best friends with Sichting. The two formed the No. 1 doubles tandem for Indian Creek boys tennis in the fall.
“We’re still adapting. Landon was our leading rebounder, and everything flows when he’s in the game. There have been a lot of ups, and there have been a lot of lows.”
Indian Creek has played a dozen games minus Sichting, going 6-6 in the process as a number of Braves’ players have upped their minutes and responsibilities both offensively and defensively.
Senior forwards Volz (4.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.7 apg) and Carter Modlin (6.7, 5.9, 4.1) are the heart and soul of what the team does down low; junior guard Adam Crouch, who like Sichting is a three-year starter, is Indian Creek’s main scoring threat at 17.3 points per outing.
Junior frontliners Landon Martin (12.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Bobby Emberton (7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds) have stepped their games up as well, while another junior forward, Kaden Martin, also averages more than 10 minutes of court time each game.
“I already knew the news, but it was devastating,” Volz zaid of his friend’s injury. “Him talking to us was pretty big. It opened up the other guys’ eyes that somebody else needs to score and get rebounds.”
Overall, the Braves take a 12-7 mark into Saturday’s game at Sullivan. The team is already ensured of an eighth winning season in the last 10 years.
Sichting’s locker room speech more than two months ago, shocking as it was emotional, set the tone for every Indian Creek game played for the remainder of the season.
As for Sichting’s status, he underwent surgery on Jan. 17 to have his knee repaired, and has started his rehab with his senior basketball season still on the horizon.
“He said, I want to tell the team myself,” Glentzer said. “A couple kids cried, and some others were like, ‘Hey, we’ve got your back.’ This team is pretty close. I had never seen anything like that.
“It was really a big moment for our team.”
