CC wins in preseason finale

The next time they take the court, the game will count.

The Chipola Indians wrapped up their preseason schedule Saturday at the Milton H. Johnson Health Center, winning games over Auburn University-Montgomery and Faulkner.

The Indians won the games by a combined eight points, winning in spite of being without five regular players.

Delwan Graham, Rodderick Lanon, Steadman Short and Aaron Davis were all out with injuries. Freshman transfer Keith DeWitt will not be eligible to play until the spring semester.

“It was a chance for a lot of guys who might not have played as many minutes to get some time,” Chipola coach Jake Headrick said of his short-handed squad.

“I think everybody really stepped up, and the guys who had been playing well continued to play well.”

The Tallahassee Eagles also competed in the preseason jamboree, losing to Faulkner and beating AUM.

Chipola played in three previous scrimmage sessions, but Saturday was the first preseason event that featured regular season game rules.

Headrick said he was happy with what he saw, but one of the problems that has plagued the Indians this preseason continued to do so on Saturday.

“We’ve really got to improve our foul-shooting,” the coach said. “We have really struggled. Both games (Saturday) could’ve been a lot different if we hadn’t missed so many free throws.”

Chipola made a paltry 14-of-27 from the charity stripe against AUM.

“It wasn’t much better in the second game,” Headrick said of his team’s free throw performance, which he attributed to a lack of focus.

“With these young guys, it’s just a matter of concentration, stepping up there and making foul shots. Every kid we’ve got can shoot it better than he did over the weekend.”

Still, Headrick said he has been happy with what his team has shown him thus far.

“I think the number one thing that sticks out is that we played 11 (preseason) games and were able to win nine of them, without ever having a consistent lineup due to injuries,” the coach said.

“We haven’t had a whole team, we’ve missed lots of pieces, but we’ve still found ways to win games. Any time you do that, it makes you happy as a coach.
This team still has a long way to go. We’re not playing our best basketball by any means, but you never want your team playing its best basketball this early.”