After winning the East Lincoln Jam, the Patriots packed up and traveled to Winston-Salem Saturday to play in the Hoop Cities Invitational where they took on a team from the eastern part of the state the Henderson Collegiate Pride.

The first quarter was a back and forth game until the 4:49 mark.  The score was tied at four. Indy’s Omarion Bodrick blocked a baseline jumper caught the ball while it was still in the air, and passed the length of the court to Anthony Allen for the layup to give Indy the lead at 6-4.

At the 4:30 mark, Allen got a loose ball and drove to the basket to make the score 8-4.  After the Pride, scored on the inside, Indy’s Jalen Hinton drained a 3-pointer giving the Patriots an 11-6 lead.

The Patriots moved out to a 13-6 lead when Omarion Bodrick grabbed a defensive rebound and drove the length of the floor for the layup with 1:45 remaining in the period.

With 1:25 remaining in the quarter,  Henderson Collegiate stated its come back by making two free throws 13-8.  With 45 seconds showing on the clock, Henderson nailed a 3-pointer 13-11.  Then with 3 seconds left in the period, Henderson drained a long 3-pointer to take the lead 14-13.

As the second quarter got underway, Jalen Hinton hit a baseline 3-pointer to give Indy the lead at 16-14.  At the 7:05 mark, Henderson tied the score at 16 until Indy’s Camren Little fought his way to the basket to give the Patriots the lead at 18-16.

With 6:11 left in the half, Jalen Hinton made another 3-pointer to make the score 21-16.  After Henderson scored on a two-handed dunk, Jalen hit his third 3-point basket giving Indy the lead at 24-18.

With 4:14 left in the first half, Henderson cut Indy’s lead to two points 24-22.  Henderson tied the score at 26 on an offensive rebound and a stick back.

Indy retook the lead 30-29 on a Nygell Verdier baseline drive with 1:11 left on the clock.

With a minute left, Henderson took a page out of Indy’s playbook by pulling off an alley-oop to retake the lead 31-10.  Then 30 seconds later Henderson knocked down two free throws to take a 33-30 halftime advantage.

At the start of the third quarter, Indy’s De’Drick Givens drew a foul and made both of his free throws giving the Patriots a 1-point lead.  But with 6:50 left in the period, Henderson was back in the lead 36-32.

At the 6:46 mark, De’Drick Givens made an old fashioned three-points play. After scoring on a drive to the basket, he picked up a foul.  Givins knocked down the free throw to cut Henderson’s lead to one at 36-35.

The Patriots retook the lead at the 6:29 mark.  Omarion Bodrick blocked another shot,  got the loose ball and passed to Anthony Allen who was knocked to the floor as he went to the basket.  Allen made both of his fouls shots, and the Patriots were back in the lead at 37-36 that would be the last time Indy would lead in the game.

Henderson held a 7-point advantage at the end of the third period 52-45.

Henderson started the final period scoring five unanswered points to make the score 57-45.

Anthony Allen cut the score to 9-points on a 3-point basket.  Nygell Verdier scored on a baseline drive to make the score 59-50.  However, Henderson moved out to a 15-point lead at the 2:42 mark.

With 2:34 remaining in the game, Indy made a gutty come back.  Anthony Allen scored and was fouled.  After making his foul shot, the score was 66-54.  On Henderson’s inbound pass, Indy made the steal, and Omarion Bodrick cut the score to 66-56.  Again, at the 2:15 mark Indy stole the inbounds pass.   Jalen Hinton scored to make the score 66-58.

With two minutes left in the game, Divine Allah missed a shot in the lane, but he got his own rebound and scored to make the score 66-60.

After Henderson scored on a dunk, Bevine knocked down a baseline 3-pointer to cut the lead to five points 68-63 and that would be as close as the Patriots would come.

Henderson went on a 5-0 run before Jalen Hinton hit a 3-point basket to make the score 73-66 with only 12 seconds left in the game.

With 7.7 seconds showing on the clock, Henderson made two free throws to make the final score 75-66 as Henderson took the holiday victory over Independence.

Junior guard Jalen Hinton led the Patriots with 20 points.  He had 2 assists and 2 steals.  Anthony Allen added 14 points, had 2 rebounds and had 4 assists.  Nygell Verdier was the last Patriot to score in double figures.  He had 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 blocked shots.  Omarion Bodrick added 7 points, pulled down 8 rebounds, had 1 assist, 2 steals, and 6 blocked shots.  Divine Allah scored 5 points, had 4 rebounds and 2 assists.  De’Drick Givens had 5 points and 3 rebounds.  Camren Little scored 3 points, had 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 steal.  Tachai Miller finished the night with 2 points, had 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal.

The Patriots are 8-5 overall and 3-0 in the Southwestern 4A Conference.  The Patriots will get back in conference action Tuesday night as they will host their arch-rivals the Butler Bulldogs.

The Lady Patriots are scheduled to tip-off at 6:00 p.m., and the men’s game is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

Independence               13  17  15  21  –  66

Henderson Collegiate   14  19  19  23  –  75