Chipola Bounces Back: Takes Out Santa Fe

December 1, 2007

By Chipola Staff

Their seemed to be a bit of bounce in the Chipola Indians step on Saturday night.

After having not played well on either Thursday or Friday, Chipola executed with greater efficiency in a 92-64 win over Santa Fe.

A major reason for the success of the top ranked Indians was the reemergence of sophomore Mario Little, who ended with a game high 20 points.

“We wanted to go to him early,” said Chipola coach Greg Heiar. “He’s struggled a bit the last couple of nights, so we really wanted to get him some easy looks early in the game.”

Little started the game off by scoring Chipola’s first 6 points on their opening three possessions.

Then freshman Gary Flowers got involved. He scored on back-to-back possessions, helping the Indians jump out to an eventual 15-6 lead.

“We did a good job of executing our plays,” said Little. “On both the offensive and defensive end, I thought we did a better job tonight.”

Chipola’s hot start forced Santa Fe to switch to a zone to try and quell the early Indian momentum.

“This was really a good night for us,” said Heiar. “We got a great opportunity to work against a zone. I’m sure we’re going to be seeing a lot of it this season.”

For the second night in a row, freshman Artem Slipenchuck invigorated the Chipola offense with his ball movement.

“It’s contagious,” said Heiar. “When he comes in, we swing the basketball to open shooters. We have so many guys that can make plays, and he just did a great job of finding them and giving them opportunities.”

Santa Fe made a second half surge, getting to within 8 points, 46-38, with 16:04 to play in the game.

But Chipola’s offense came on fire during the final stretch. The Indians scored 30 points during the games final 18 possessions

“This was good win for us,” added Heiar. “Santa Fe is a very well coached team. I’m just happy with our effort.”

Flowers ended the night with his 4th double-double of the season, scoring 17 points and hauling in a game high 13 rebounds.

Freshman Vernon Teel scored 13 points. Sophomore Mario Edwards and freshman Casey Mitchell each had 8 points each for the now 12-0 Indians.

Chipola’s next game is on Thursday, December 6. They play host to Genesis I Prep of Mendenhall, Mississippi at 7:00 pm CST.