Independence’s Friday night loss to Hickory Ridge was a huge upset in the Southwestern 4A Conference.  The loss created a two-way tie between Independence and Myers Park both with a 6-2 conference record.  Hickory Ridge, who has victories over both Independence and Myers Park,  stands at 5-2.

Indy took the floor without its inside man Omarion Bodrick who had missed three school days suffering from the flu.

The Patriots jumped out to a 4-0 lead on baskets by Anthony Allen and De’Drick Givens with 5:17 left in the opening period.  The 4-0 lead would be the last time the Patriots would lead in the game.

After Givens’s last basket,  the Bulls went on a 19-0 run to close the first quarter 19-4 with the Bulls leading.

The Bulls started the second quarter by hitting a layup to make the score 21-4.  The Bulls ran off 21 unanswered points before Indy’s Camren Little hit a jumper to make the score 21-6.

With 3:12 left in the first half, the Patriots made a little run on baskets by Reggie Smith, a 3-pointer by Divine Allah and a basket at the buzzer by Tachai Miller to make the halftime score 32-19 with the Bulls on top.

Indy’s Nygell Verdier started the second half with two quick field goals followed by a free throw by De’Drick Givens to cut the Bulls’ lead to 32-24.

With 2:48 to go in the period and the Bulls leading 35-26, they were whistled for an intentional foul.  After the call, Hickory Ridge’s Shane Fernald extremely objected to the call and was called for a technical foul.

Indy’s Anthony Allen stepped up to the free-throw line and sank all four free throws to cut the Bulls’ lead to 35-30.  After the foul shots, the Patriots were awarded the ball out-of-bounds at mid-court.  With 2:35 showing on the clock, Anthony Allen drove down the lane for the layup cutting the Bulls’ lead to three points 35-32.

Hickory Ridge answered with a 3-point basket, a field goal and two free throws to take a 42-34 third-quarter lead.

At the start of the final period, Indy’s Divine Allah scored five quick points on a field goal and a baseline 3-point basket to make the score 42-39.  Hickory Ridge answered with a 3-pointer of its own, but another technical foul was called against the Bulls.  Anthony Allen made 1-of-2 free throws to make the score 45-40.

With 3:48 left in the game, Tachai Miller cut the score to three points 45-42.

After a Hickory Ridge basket, Miller scored again to keep the score at a three-point difference 47-44.  That would be as close as the Patriots would come to taking the lead.

In the final two minutes with Indy having to foul the Bulls took advantage of their foul shots to take a 59-48 conference victory over the Patriots.

Anthony Allen led the Patriots with 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist.  Tachai Miller added 9 points, had 4 rebounds, dished out 5 assists and had 3 steals.  Nygell Verdier had 8 points, pulled down 5 rebounds, had 1 assist, 3 steals and 1 blocked shot.  Divine Allah scored 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots.   De’Drick Givens had 3 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and had 1 steal.  Camren Little scored 2 points, had 2 rebounds and 1 steal.  Reggie Smith hit for 2 points and had 2 rebounds.

Independence     4  15  15  14  –  48

Hickory Ridge   19  13  10  17  –  59