After opening their season last Friday with a dispiriting loss to Milford, the Indian River High School boys basketball team followed up with a nail-biter against the Lake Forest Spartans on Tuesday, winning 70-64 in overtime. From the tip-off, Lake Forest made it obvious that they weren’t going to hand the game over easily. Establishing quick cuts and passes through the lane and effortless shots from outside the three-point arc, Lake Forest held a 33-29 lead by halftime.

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Junior Keion Sturgis sails to the basket for a layup against Lake Forest on Tuesday night’s game. The Indians pushed past the Spartans, 70-64, in overtime.
“I knew I had to mix it up on defense,” said Indian River head coach Marvin Phillips. “We threw in some man-to-man and zone in there to try to slow down Lake Forest’s tempo. They have some shooters on that team, too, so I had to bring some of our guys out on them.”

Lake Forest senior Zachary Edwards and sophomore Jeffery Purnell combined for seven three-pointers for the Spartans, keeping the margin close.

The Indians exploded on the court in the second half, behind junior Montre Andrews, who followed up his four points from the first half with 12 in the third period alone. A steal and basket from junior shooting guard Keion Sturgis put the Indians back in the lead for the first time in the second half.

As time ticked down, the Indians held a slight edge, narrowly leading 60-59 in regulation, but a foul outside the three-point-line with 4.9 seconds left sent Purnell to the line with a chance to put the game away. No luck for the Indians, as all three bounced around the rim.

The Spartans came down with the rebound and, again, Purnell was sent to the line with three shots, with virtually no time on the clock in regulation. Lake Forest again had an opportunity to win, but cracked under pressure. With one of three made the second time, the Spartans pushed the game to overtime.

From there, the Indians knew they had to maintain composure. Thanks to senior captain and point guard Tyree Oliver’s reliable form at the free-throw line, and a momentum-building, three-point drive from center Jake Mitchell, the Indians conserved the lead through the remainder of the game.

Oliver and Mitchell finished the night with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Andrews led the team in scoring with 20 points, while Sturgis accompanied the winning efforts with 10 points. Juniors Jack Cole and Deshawn Godwin combined for 10 points, too.

The victory was a sweet one for Phillips, who had returned to his alma mater to coach the team this year.

“[Looking at the season] is a lot like when you start a game,” he said. “You really want to be the team to get the first basket. We needed to start off with an early win this year.”

He credited his team’s persistence in Tuesday night’s win.

“We still have some things to work on, but these guys never gave up,” he said.

After hosting a losing battle with Milford last Friday, Phillips said he was aware he had to switch some things around.
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IR’s center Jacob Mitchell fights through the Lake Forest defense to lay up a basket.
“I knew Lake ran a 1-3-1,” he said, “and we had to move the ball down low to the corners and get it to Montre [Andrews] and Jacob [Mitchell].”

Following the win, the Indians sit 1-1 for the season and in the conference, with plenty of division rivalry to come.

“A conference win is very big,” Phillips added. “I set my goals at beginning of season. I wanted to go 4-0 going into Christmas break, but I’ll take 3-1, because all of these games are in the South, and winning now will be important later. We’re going to take these games one at a time, and, hopefully, at the end, we’ll be right there.”

The Indians, who dished Lake Forest their second conference loss of the season, will be at Seaford on Friday, Dec. 12, trying to improve their record. The Blue Jays, also 1-1, fell in their opener to William Penn (New Castle, Del.), but upended Henlopen South rival Woodbridge, who will face IR on Tuesday, Dec. 16. Both Indian River games are slated for 7:15 p.m

“We’ve got to look at a lot of things,” said Phillips. “I want to focus on our man-to-man, and transitioning players like Mitchell from offense to defense. We need to find out who can play where, and try players in different positions. Right now, I’m still mixing and matching, seeing who fits.”

Cole showed some impressive countering on defense with late-game steals.

Phillips added that he was pleased with the consistency of talent across the board, even from his younger players.

“I told [Andrews] that every game, he could have 20 points if he just put the ball in the basket. In the first half [against Lake Forest], he missed five layups. Then he came out and played good basketball. I’m not fancy. I don’t care about behind-the-back or nothing. Give me a simple pass and put the ball in the basket. That’s all I want to see.”