Photo by Rick Hoppenrath
The Moraine Valley men’s basketball team traveled down to Iowa on December 10 to participate in the annual Indian Hills Community College Tournament.
The Cyclones took on the three-time NJCAA Division I champion and host Indian Hills Warriors to open the tournament. The Cyclones came into this game on a three-game win streak, but were denied their fourth straight victory, as the Warriors strong play was too much for the Cyclones to handle. The Warriors ran away with an 89-67 victory.
Day two of the tournament the cyclones showed resiliency as they soundly handed William Penn JV a 101-72 defeat.
After 10 days without a scheduled match-up, the Cyclones began where they left off as they continued their domination and beat Olive-Harvey College 81-68 on December 20. With three of Moraine’s starters out, the Cyclones proved how deep their bench is.
Coach Justin Domingo believes the bench will be the vital key down the stretch. “Guys who haven’t played are going to be asked to play big minutes,” said Domingo
Richaun Holmes led the team in scoring against Olive-Harvey College with 26 points along with 10 boards and seven blocks. This season, Holmes is almost averaging a double-double each game with 16.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
“He brings a lot of attention with his versatility in three point shots as well as posting up,” said coach Domingo. “He has great awareness and is a great defensive player.”
Sadly, the Cyclones ended the calendar year on a sour note with a close 68-63 loss to Kennedy-King College.
After going two weeks without a game, the Cyclones kicked off the New Year with a 61-46 conference victory over Morton College on January 7. Holmes racked up another double-double with a dozen points and rebounds.
“We stay focused on the task at hand,” said Domingo in regards to being prepared for a game after a long break. “All of our players do what is asked of them every night.”
Unfortunately, on January 10, the team took a step back in a heartbreaking 67-62 overtime loss to McHenry County College. The Cyclones played without a few players due to academic reasons. The loss knocked Moraine Valley out of the top 20 rankings in the NJCAA Division II.
“The game came down to late turnovers and missed free throws,” said coach Domingo, “I told the players afterwards to focus one game at a time.”
The Cyclones were scheduled to play College of Lake County on the road on January 12, but was cancelled due to weather conditions. The Cyclones look to play College of Lake County on February 18, the conference make up date.
Moraine Valley took on Elgin Community College on January 17. The game was filled with emotion and tension. Only three minutes into the game there was chest bumping between Holmes and an Elgin player, both received technical fouls. Holmes sat out the remainder of the half. The Cyclones had communication flaws, which led to turnovers and allowed Elgin to take a 28-25 lead at the half. The Cyclones couldn’t capitalize on a few second chance opportunities resulting in Elgin taking the first double-digit lead of the game 41-31. Elgin eventually went on a 10-2 run and did a good job exploiting the Cyclone’s 2-3 zone defense. Moraine Valley could not recover from the deficit and took another tough conference loss, 72-53.
The Cyclones have a chance to get back to an even record in their next conference game against Waubonsee Community College on January 19.
