As Indian River approaches the midpoint of the regular basketball season, the team, under new coaching direction, is shaping up well. But the true test lies ahead, with Henlopen North match-ups that will help determine the Indians’ spot in the postseason.

Coastal Point • Jesse Pryor
Keion Sturgis rises to the top last Friday night as the Indians defeated Delmar, 67-58. Indian River sits in third place in the Henlopen South following a five-point loss to Milford this past Tuesday.

The Indians padded a three-game winning streak with a nine-point victory over Delmar last week but fell for the second time this season to Henlopen South-leading Milford this past Tuesday. The Bucs got out to an early lead, stunting the Indians early in the first quarter. Effective shooting outside the arc kept IR at bay.

“They were hitting all their three-pointers,” said Indians’ junior Keion Sturgis, who recorded 12 points in the game. “That’s what hurt us. We had some **** fouls late in the game, too. Their defense was collapsing in the middle.”

“They started to get away from us at the end,” said center Jacob Mitchell. “They picked up a basket with a foul with two minutes left in the game, and it changed the whole momentum around. We went from being down by two to being down by five.”

Milford finished off the Indians, 66-59.

Mitchell grabbed 15 boards that game, while 13 points helped him inch towards his 1,000th career point. Now just 39 points shy, he is capable of obtaining the milestone mark in the next weeks. In the last two games, Mitchell has scored 13 points both times – a number well-shy of the 22 points he scored earlier this year in games against Laurel and James M. Bennett, but he’s confident that he can get back in stride.

“All I have to do is get back to those numbers,” he said. “If I have a couple of bad runs, I know I just need to come back the next day and play my game.”

Working under first-year head coach Marvin Phillips hasn’t thrown the team off its stride one bit, Sturgis and Mitchell agreed.

“We know what to expect,” said Sturgis. “He’s worked really well with us.”

The Indians are now 6-4 since the season’s start and 4-3 in the Southern Conference, putting them in the third-place spot, behind Woodbridge and Milford, both of which are currently 6-1 on the season with at least one victory over the Indians.

This week, IR will keep the conference play going, hosting Smyrna on Friday night, Jan. 16, at 7:15 p.m. The Indians will then begin their stint against Henlopen North rivals, facing teams like Polytech on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 5:30 p.m., and Cape Henlopen, Sussex Tech and Sussex Central in the upcoming weeks.

“We know have to step it up,” said Sturgis. “These schools in the North are a lot tougher. We need to bring our game to the next level.”

In each of their four losses this season, the Indians have averaged a seven-point differential.

“We’re at the point where we’re in every single game that we lost,” said Mitchell. “We’re just not catching a break to come up with the win. We need to slow the game down and take control. We let Milford run the game at their own tempo.”