Indian Lake’s boys basketball team got off to a hot start Friday and then held off a second-half surge from Urbana to earn a 51-47 victory and at least a share of the Central Buckeye Conference Mad River division title.
The Lakers improve to 11-9 overall and 8-1 in the CBC. Indian Lake can claim the Mad River championship outright Friday with a win over North Union at home in the regular-season finale.
Urbana drops to 13-6 overall, 7-2.
The Hillclimbers’ two losses in conference have both come at the hands of Indian Lake.
In their first meeting on Jan. 6, Indian Lake overcame an 18-point second-half deficit to rally for the win in triple overtime.
Friday, the Lakers opened up a 16-point lead after the first quarter and then had to hold on for the emotional win in a game that was physical from start to finish.
Indian Lake connected on four three-pointers in the game’s opening minutes, and that hot shooting start propelled them to a 21-5 lead after the first quarter.
Urbana started chipping away in the second quarter, as consistent full court pressure and a tenacious defensive effort disrupted Indian Lake’s shooting rhythm.
Urbana outscored the Lakers 15-11 in the second quarter to draw to 32-20 at halftime.
The Hillclimbers continued to trim into Indian Lake’s lead in the third quarter, outscoring the Lakers 15-9 to draw to within single digits, 41-33, entering the fourth quarter.
Urbana cut into the lead even further in the early stages of the fourth quarter, and trailed by only a single possession for most of the game’s final minutes.
The Lakers were able to generate a few key defensive stops of their own down the stretch, however, and never let Urbana get any closer than two points.
The Hillclimbers had the ball, down two, with 25 seconds left in regulation. Out of a timeout, Urbana was able to get off a pair of three-point shots, but could not connect on either attempt as Indian Lake held on.
Caiden Nicol led the Lakers with a game-high 20 points. Camden Tuttle added 13 points.
Maddux Hall went four-for-four from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help stave off the Urbana comeback.
The Lakers are back in action Tuesday at home against Versailles.
INDIAN LAKE 51 URBANA 47
INDIAN LAKE (11-9, 8-1)
Nicol 7 4-5 20; Tuttle 6 0-1 13; Hall 1 4-4 7; Tucci 2 0-0 6; Pequignot 1 0-0 3; Murphy 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 8-10 51
URBANA (13-6 7-2)
Donahue 7 1-3 17; Rogan 5 1-4 12; Hildebrand 3 2-4 8; Bradshaw 2 0-0 4; Neff-Strickland 1 0-0 3; Key 1 1-1 3. Totals: 19 5-12 47.
Lakers. 21 11 9 10 — 51
Hillclimbers. 5 15 13 14 — 47
Three pointers: Indian Lake 7 (Tucci 2, Nicol 2, Tuttle, Pequignot, Hall.) Urbana 4 (Donahue 2, Rogan, Neff-Strickland.) Team fouls: Indian Lake 20 Urbana 15.