It didn’t take long to figure out how Indian Creek’s girls would respond from their worst loss of the season.
Getting superior defense for the entire game and a game-high 13 points from junior forward Caitlyn Snyder, the Braves stifled visiting Edgewood 55-34 in the first half of a girls-boys basketball doubleheader Friday night.
Indian Creek’s boys capped the sweep with a 63-55 victory in the nightcap.
The girls (8-6, 3-1 Western Indiana Conference) won for the fourth time in five games and undoubtedly erased any residual bad feelings from Tuesday night’s 20-point home loss to Whiteland.
Indian Creek forced 25 turnovers, with 11 coming on steals. Senior guard Addie Rund had three of those. The Braves took better care of the ball, committing only seven turnovers in the first half and 16 in the game.
“They came out and executed on some things we worked on after the Whiteland game,” Braves girls coach Brian Ferris said. “Some defensive positioning and certain rotations. We got exploited on that against Whiteland, but it was exciting to see them work it (tonight).”
Besides Snyder, Rund was the only other Brave in double figures, with 11 points.
In the boys game, senior Jared DeHart, fresh off scoring his 1,000th point last week, added 20 more to his tally, but while he was feted for his career milestone before tipoff, the senior wasn’t around at the end, fouling out with 2:35 to go.
Next man up.
Junior Zach Pugh and sophomore Xavier Ferris seized the moment, scoring 20 and 10 points each as the host Braves (4-1, 2-1 WIC) held on and snapped the Mustangs’ four-game winning streak.
“I’m proud of the kids. We truly enunciated the fact (basketball) is a team game,” Indian Creek coach Drew Glentzer said. “Our starters and the kids who came off the bench, they handled the moment.”
Indian Creek had a 7-0 run in the second quarter that gave it a 22-7 lead, but the Braves went nearly five minutes without a score in the third quarter, allowing the Mustangs to tie the game at 36-all.
Then Edgewood went into a drought of its own in the fourth quarter, going down 10 with 4:02 to play, before scoring the next seven points.
The senior proved pretty much unstoppable in the first half and hit a key 3-pointer just before leaving the game.
Playing without their leading scorer down the stretch, the Braves survived. Pugh hit a 3-pointer and hit on five of six free throws. Ferris also hit five of six from the stripe — all with less than a minute to go.
Pugh and Ferris’ heroics, along with some key defense and ball-handling by Indian Creek in the midst of a press, showed they were capable of winning without their leader.
“The kids did a great job of taking care of the ball and keeping calm,” Glentzer said. “It was a grind, but a great one.”
