MINT HILL, NC – The Lady Patriots simply took control of this basketball contest early within the first four minutes exploding with a 14-0 run before Providence could score a basket. They dominated and controlled the tempo of the game from start to finish. They also set the tone sending a message to the Lady Panthers and the entire conference this team is for real. The Patriots remain undefeated at 9-0 in 4A Conference 59. They are now 19-2 overall on the season and are rated among the Top 50 teams in the state.
The last time these two teams went head-to-head Indy pulled out a road victory by nine points 52-41 on January 3rd. On this night the ladies trotted out onto the court with a look of determination and appeared ready to make a statement. The team connected on fourteen 3-pointers with Kamryn Kitchen drilling five of her own shooting 5 of 8 from the outer range. Jai’lun Brimmer added three more 3-pointers, while Chloe Moss and Jessica Worthey contributed two each to lead the charge. It appeared whenever the Panthers tried to make a comeback run, Indy found a way to shut them down, and proceed to make another run of their own.
When the first-period buzzer sounded Indy had built a commanding 28-7 advantage. The Lady Panthers simply could not bounce back from such a large deficit. Kitchen led with 10 points, 1 block, 2 assists in the period. Hannah Moss had a nice period contributing 5 points, 2 steals in a good effort. The Indy defense was relentlessly accumulating 16 steals in the game.
In the second period Indy outscored the Panthers 20-16 to extend their already big lead to cap a 48-23 dominating first half of basketball. Brimmer nailed two 3-pointers, Kitchen added two more of her own while the coach was rotating players to rest her starters for the third period push to put this game out any serious contention.
During the third period the teams played evenly on the floor, but the Patriots maintained and increased their edge by outscoring the Panthers again 15-12. The difference was a 3-pointer by Chloe Moss with under 30 seconds remaining in the period. Independence now led 63-35 entering the final period with a commanding lead.
In the final period the Panthers fought hard for the first five minutes giving it everything they could to make the final outcome more respectable. However, the Lady Patriots just kept pouring it on as they continued making their shots from the floor. Brimmer and Worthey both drilled 3-pointers which clearly shut the door for any kind of comeback to respectability. Lindsey Nolan, Kendall Webb, and Isabella Hall had a good game for the Panthers and did their best to keep it close. However, the Patriots just had to much firepower as they shot 58% from the floor showing who they can ultimately become playing team basketball and rock-solid defense.
Kitchen led all scorers with 23 points, Brimmer 17, Moss 14, Worthey 12, Hannah Moss 7 to lead the Patriots. While Nolan had 14, Hall 10, Webb 10, and Julia Skinner 6 for the visiting Panthers.
