Hononegah Indians Return to NIC-10 Schedule

By Chris Johnson, REPORTER

 The Hononegah Indians’ non-conference losses to Joliet Central and Rock Island to close 2016 have long been forgotten. Lessons were learned from them. Good teams were invited to compete in the 2016 tournament-closer.

Now the Indians’ game play moves into a new year. The attention has been turned back to where it needs to be at this point in the season, dealing with the Conference schedule.

Rockford Guilford was the first to face the Indians as the 2017 NIC-10 season resumed. The Vikings may have wished for a little different result to start the second half though, as they faced a defensive blockade, losing 65-43. A few of the shots were falling for Guilford early in the game, but the Indians’ defense failed to allow too many extra chances. The way to slow a hot-shooting team is to take away the extra shot opportunities. Hononegah was able to find the plays to get that done. After the first period the Indians were two baskets ahead, 19-14. During the second quarter they adjusted the lead to a much more comfortable margin. Guilford scored nine points in the second quarter and just didn’t get a real good chance to get its offense going. They were running a lot as Hononegah was putting 20 points on the board. At the half, the visiting Indians were in front 39-23.

Guilford discovered that few answers had been revealed after play resumed in the third quarter. The shifts weren’t working as well as they’d hoped, and the team couldn’t find a comfortably-flowing offense. There were near misses and opportunities. The Vikings held Hononegah to 14 points in the frame, but lost ground as they trailed 53-32 after three quarters. The Hononegah bench did its job in the final eight minutes of play as they found ways to keep the clock moving and the offensive opportunities for Guilford limited. The Indians won the fourth frame by a one-point margin, 12-11. They took the match 65-43 and moved on to their next NIC-10 destination.

Details of the Wednesday, Jan. 11 home game against the Freeport Pretzels are unavailable at this time. We will have that information in an upcoming edition of the Herald Newspaper.

The Martin Luther King Memorial Shootout opens this Saturday, Jan. 14 at Hononegah and will conclude on Monday, Jan. 16.

Hononegah is scheduled to face West Aurora, DeKalb, Neuqua Valley and Zion-Benton during the event; teams they may only see again if the playoffs allow.

On Friday, Jan. 20 the Hononegah Indians begin a stretch of road games that will help them determine if they are able to claim the NIC-10 Title this season. Rockford Boylan plays host next Friday. The match also opens a stretch where Hononegah will have to play five of the next six games on the road. Only a Jan. 27 stop at home to face the Belvidere Bucs interferes with the next three weeks of road games for the Indians. They will return home during the “make-or-break” session of the season as they host Rockford Guilford and Rockford Auburn to close the 2016-2017 winter sports regular season.

The original March Madness begins the following week for the Hononegah Indians.