MINT HILL, NC – The Lady Patriots basketball team is hosting a Christmas Tournament being held at Independence High School. The home host team won their first round game 67-44 against a team from Woodruff, South Carolina who traveled 75 miles to participate and compete.
The visitors ran up against a Patriot team who came ready to play. The opening period belonged to Indy as they capitalized on a 14-2 run during the initial six minute timeframe early in the basketball game.
The scoring was led by the Independence dynamic backcourt duo of Kamryn Kitchen and Kaylee Carson who combined for 14 points, while Chloe Moss and Lily Gorum both contributed 2 points each giving the Patriots an 18-7 advantage ending the first period.
The second period belonged to Independence and in particular, Kitchen who put on a shooting clinic scoring 13 points, she picked up 3 assists, added 1 steal, and 2 rebounds to lead the home team to a 35-25 edge at the intermission. Meanwhile, Sadie Burnette hit two 3-point shots and Natalie Montjoy added another to keep the Wolverines close and within striking distance. While Midori Walkup contributed 4 points for the Lady Patriots. Kitchen, a talented freshman scored 20 points in the first half and was clearly the dominate player on the floor at this point in the contest.
In the third period, it was sophomore Kaylee Carson who led the charge scoring 11 points and getting her second steal of the contest leading to another Patriot basket. Independence was able to extend their 10 point half-time lead to 16 points providing them with a very comfortable edge entering the final period of competition. Kitchen added a 3-pointer, but had some hard luck on a couple of shots that did not fall, and Kalia Ingram added 3 points to roundoff the scoring for the period. The Patriots now had a Commanding 52-36 advantage with just 8:00 minutes remaining.
The fourth period belonged to the Lady Patriots as Lily Todd, Moss, Kitchen, Carson, Tamia Burgess, Ingram, Walkup, Jenn Stancil, and Makinley Sellars all contributed to a solid defensive effort holding the Wolverines to just 8 points, Indy outscored their opponent 15-8 in the final period to secure the victory. Only Burnette the Wolverines leading scorer drilled consecutive 3-pointers and a jump shot for the visitors. While Moss for Indy scored 6 points to lead the charge for the home team.
The Lady Patriots are now 7-2 on the season. Kitchen led all scorers with 24 points, Carson 22, Moss 10, Walkup 5, Sellars 3, and Ingram 3 for Indy. While Burnette scored 19 points to lead the Wolverines.
