Pontiac Indians just one step away from outright IPC championship

By Erich Murphy

Bingo Magic Sports

A win over state-ranked Tolono (Unity) on Friday will give Pontiac the Illini Prairie Conference championship outright. It’s been awhile since the Indians claimed a league crown.

Pontiac, which is ranked 14th last week, overpowered 19th-ranked St. Joseph-Ogden, 73-51, to get into a position to play for the league title.

“I’m proud of our guys and excited for them to go out and get the opportunity to play for the conference,” Starker said.

Amazin King dunks for Pontiac in the Tribe’s 73-51 IPC victory over St. Joseph-Ogden Tuesday. King scored a game-high 24 points. (Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports)

The Indians have that opportunity because of their defense. It helped generate the offense and the Tribe was able to take control of the game late in the first quarter.

Trailing 16-10, Pontiac began its rally with 1:52 to go in the opening frame when Cayden Masching sank two free throws. The Indians got a stop and Evan Wolf drilled a 3-pointer to cut the margin to 16-15.

Pontiac’s Amazin King reaches in to try to knock the ball away from Ryker Lockhart of St. Joseph-Ogden during Tuesday’s IPC contest at PTHS. Evan Wolf of Pontiac watches for a chance to get the ball. (Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports)

The defense amped up the pressure and got back-to-back turnovers. Masching converted the first to give the Tribe a 17-16 lead. Anderson Horning scored off the second, and Wolf drilled another trey at the end of the period to cap a 12-point run and put PTHS up 22-16.

“We’ve been working on our press, on the back end and working on that trap,” Starker said. “They took what we were working on and got some turnovers.

“We got a spark and it boosted our guys and we built on that.”

The Indians put together a nine-point surge in the second quarter that’s highlighted by two more Masching layups after turnovers by the Spartans.

The highlight of the quarter was Amazin King’s dunk on a break that gave Pontiac a 37-23 lead.

“(We) got them to turn it over with our pressure,” Starker said.

St. Joseph-Ogden found success inside early, but the pressure and some adjustments by the Indians took away what the Spartans wanted to do on offense.

Pontiac head coach Matt Starker watches the action as his Indians faced St. Joseph-Ogden in an Illini Prairie Conference game Tuesday. Starker guided his team to a 73-51 victory to remain unbeaten in league play. (Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports)

Starker praised Henry DeYoung and Aden Brummel for their play inside that helped give the Tribe momentum. The Spartans go no closer than 10 points in the second half, and that was in the first 90 seconds of the third period.

St. Joe-Ogden’s hopes were dashed by the middle of the fourth period. The Tribe had another 9-0 run, which included two technical free throws from Masching, as PTHS pulled away.

Anderson Horning of Pontiac eyes the basket as he shoots a free throw. Horning had 5 points in the Tribe’s 73-51 victory. (Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports)

King led the way for Pontiac (19-5, 8-0) with his game-high 24 points. Wolf added 13 points, Masching scored 12 and Ben Melchers threw in 11 points. Brummel checked in with 6 points and Horning hit for 5 points. Bryce Robison added 2 points.

Nolan Franzen led St. Joseph-Ogden (17-9, 5-3) with 18 points.

One of Pontiac’s goals for this season is to win the conference crown. A win over third-ranked Tolono Friday will give the Indians their first league championship since possibly as long ago as 1985. The 2005-2006 team under Jake Krause finished 23-6 and placed second in the Corn Belt before winning a Class AA regional. A regional title would be the next goal the Tribe will be looking to meet.

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