The latest installment of the Indian Creek and Whiteland rivalry on Thursday night was, as always, nonconference.
What it wasn’t was non-contact.
By the time the final buzzer sounded on four quarters of airborne bodies, the occasional hard foul and even some late-game jawing between coaching staffs, the host Warriors had escaped with a 58-53 victory.
“That was a very physical game,” said Whiteland coach Nate Cangany, whose squad improved to 12-8 on the season. “As physical as it was, you wanted to stay safe, and there were parts it looked like a football game, especially late.
“We showed some stretches of how good we could be, but I don’t think we shot the ball all that well.”
Whiteland never trailed in the game, led by 14 points after one quarter, and then held on as the Braves regrouped the final three quarters to get as close as 53-51 with 2:25 remaining in the fourth.
Senior guard Jazz Banwait made good on two free throw attempts at 1:18 and again with 24.7 ticks remaining to provide Whiteland some breathing room.
Indian Creek junior guard Adam Crouch delivered a 31-point performance, but the Braves (11-6) failed to place any of his teammates in double figures. Senior forward Carter Modlin and junior forward Bobby Emberton had eight points apiece.
Banwait’s 19 points topped the more balanced Warriors, who also received 17 from junior wing Gavin Stubbe and 13 from senior Wiatt McLaughlin.
Led by Crouch and Modlin each collecting six boards and five each from Emberton and senior forward Trent Volz, Indian Creek won the rebounding battle, 29-16. Stubbe, McLaughlin and senior forward Akol Akol all had five rebounds for Whiteland, with the 6-7 Akol also blocking four shots.
The Warriors held a comfortable 18-4 lead through one period, a span that saw Indian Creek make only 2 of 11 field goal attempts and turn the ball over four times.
Crouch’s aggressiveness at the offensive end got his squad back into it in the second, the junior producing an old-fashioned three-point sequence 13 seconds in and following it with a layup. He finished with 10 of his points in the quarter.
A layup from Emberton at the 2:54 mark had the Braves to within 25-17, but Banwait countered from the top of the key with the second of his two triples in the half. Indian Creek responded with a Crouch charity, a hoop from junior Jagger Staats and a Modlin bucket in close. Whiteland eventually settled in with a 31-23 halftime advantage.
The Braves, once down as many as 14 early in the third, closed the quarter with an 8-0 run to make it a 47-42 count with eight minutes to play.
“We’ve been battling the injury bug the last three weeks, but I think we came out, defended and competed,” Indian Creek coach Drew Glentzer said. “Defensively, we were terrible in the first quarter. The game became ugly because we finally started to lock it up defensively.”
Whiteland returns to Mid-State Conference action next Friday with its game at Decatur Central. The Braves host Hauser this Saturday afternoon.
