Indian River beats South Jefferson

ADAMS — Starting strong and closing equally as fast, Indian River showed Monday night why it is the top boys basketball team in the Frontier League this season.

And by far the quickest.

Using its speed to create easy hoops and 31 free throw attempts, Indian River raced to a huge early lead, allowed South Jefferson to catch up by halftime, then sprinted away in the final eight minutes to post a 70-58 crossover win in a matchup of division winners.

Quincell Rahmings scored 26 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out five assists for the Warriors (13-1 overall, 9-0 league), who closed on a 33-17 run over the final 10 minutes after the Spartans had taken a 41-37 lead.

Every time “B” Division champion South Jefferson (12-2, 11-2) forced a bad shot, “A” Division winner Indian River beat the Spartans down court. Rahmings, Rayshan-Shakur Clark (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Darrius Bryant (15 points) were simply too fast for the Spartans in the open court.

“It was all about our execution on the break and on defense,” said Rahmings. “Once we turned up the defensive pressure and forced them into quick shots, that’s when we’re at our best.”

South Jefferson led 41-37 with two minutes left in the third quarter when Indian River turned up the heat.

Rahmings netted four points as Indian River scored the final seven points of the quarter to seize a 44-41 lead.

The Warriors built the lead to as many as eight points, 54-46, after a Rahmings 10-foot jumper with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

South Jefferson made one last push, scoring six straight points, helped by a Ryan Clark 3-pointer. But Malik Smith’s driving hoop ignited a six-point run for Indian River as the lead increased back to 61-53.

South Jefferson’s top scorer, Tom Bassett, fouled out with 1:44 left. After Matt Bero’s lay-up brought the Spartans to within 61-55, Indian River scored seven consecutive points to put the game away.

“In the middle two quarters, we kind of settled for bad shots instead of going strong to the hoop,” said Clark. “That’s our game. And when they came back, we kept our composure and fought right back.”

Indian River’s potent transition game highlighted an 18-0 first-quarter run that turned a 4-2 deficit into a 20-4 lead with just over two minutes left in the opening quarter.

But Tim Callahan’s club got a little careless at the end of the quarter and early in the second quarter, allowing the Spartans to go on an 18-5 spurt of their own. And by halftime, South Jefferson had fought all the way back to tie it at 28-all.

“I think we used up so much energy just to get back into the game, we didn’t have a lot left at the end,” said South Jefferson coach Fred Piche. “But they can rebound and they can run, and we didn’t do a good job of stopping either of those things.”

Clark said the Warriors “got a little too overconfident when we got that early lead. I think we thought they couldn’t come back.”

Callahan said it’s the same story over and over for his club. “When we work hard on the defensive end and create turnovers, that’s when we play our best. The first quarter and the last quarter we did that. In between, we made one pass and took a shot, and usually it was a poor shot.”

The Spartans, one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the league, managed only two, and they both came late in the game by Clark.

“That’s an important part of our game,” Piche said. “Making some usually gets our offense going. I thought we passed up some good outside looks and then forced too many shots going to the basket.”

Bassett led the Spartans with 14 points, Zach Zimmerman added 12, Matt Bero 11 and Mitch Modlin 10.

There is a good chance the two teams will meet again in the league “A/B” championship game on Feb. 10.