The varsity basketball teams of Independence High School hosted Myers Park in a Southwestern 4A Conference game on Friday night.

Women’s Game

Myers Park 45, Independence 41

After coming off an emotional one point loss  Tuesday night at Rocky River High,  the Lady Patriots returned home to face off against the Myers Park Lady Mustangs.

It was almost halfway through the first quarter before either team could put any points on the board.  However, Indy did take a two point lead on a Sharonda Smith basket from top of the key.  Myers Park settled down and went on an 8-0 run to take an 8-2 lead.  With 2:50 remaining in the first period, Braylyn Milton hit a 3-pointer making the score 8-5.  Before the first quarter ended, Myers Park made another basket to make the score 10-5 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Lady Patriots closed the lead to two at 14-12 with 3:14 left in the first half.  Sharonda Smith went to the line with 2:23 left on the clock.  Smith made both of her foul shots to tie the score 16-16.  Just a little over a minute later Alexandria Barrino put Indy in the lead hitting a basket in the lane making the score 18-16 with 1:30 left in the first half.  Four seconds later Myers Park hit a three point basket to move back into the lead 19-18.  The Lady Mustangs scored four more points before the half ended and took a 23-18 half time lead.

With 2:31 left in the third quarter Myers Park moved out to a 31-21 lead.  The Lady Patriots fought back, and as the horn sounded, Brianna McManus drained a 3-pointer to make the score 33-28 at the teams headed into the final period.

The Lady Patriots played a hard fourth quarter making a run at Myers Park’s five point lead.  With 4:30 remaining in the game, Sharonda Smith hit a 3-pointer cutting Myer Park’s lead to two 36-34.  With 4:05 left Myers Park moved back to a four point lead 38-34.

With 3:53 left in the game, Braylyn Milton took a three point shot from the top of the key.  She followed her shot that was short, got the rebound and made the put back cutting the score to two 38-36.  At the 3:00 mark the Lady Mustangs slowed their offense and looked content to hold the ball.  With 2:50 left, Indy’s coach Galvani called for her team to put pressure on the Lady Mustangs.

With Myers Park leading 39-36 Indy’s Alexandria Barrino stole the ball.  As she crossed the time line she tripped and went to the floor but maintained control of the ball.  As Myers Park players piled on going for the ball, Coach Galvani called timeout.  On the inbounds play the Lady Patriots had two shots at the basket but missed both and Myers Park got the rebound.  With 1:30 left in the game, Myers Park missed and Indy came away with the rebound and was fouled.

Indy had an inbounds play at the other end of the court trailing by three.  Indy got the ball down the court and took a 3-pointer with 1:10 remaining.  The shot rimmed out, and Myers Park came down with the rebound and called a timeout.

On Myers Park’s inbounds play,  Alexandria Barrino tipped the pass. Ayanna Anderson got the loose ball, and Indy moved down the floor but missed the shot.  Myers Park got the rebound, started down the floor and got bumped by an Indy defender.  The referee called the bump an intentional foul giving Myers Park two free throws and the ball with only 52.5 seconds left in the game.

Myers Park connected on both free throws making the score 41-36.  With 40 seconds left to play, Myers Park scored on a drive to the basket moving out to a 43-36 lead.

Indy’s Braylyn Milton picked up a foul and went to the line with 33.3 seconds showing on the clock.  Milton connected on her free throws making the score 43-38.

Myers Park moved the ball into the front court and Indy had to foul with 19.2 seconds remaining in the game.  Myers Park made the front end of a one and one.  Indy came down with the rebound with 16 remaining.  Sharonda Smith drained a 3-pointer to cut the score 44-41 with 8.7 second left in the game.  Indy fouled on the inbounds play, and again Myers Park made one of two to increase its lead 45-41.

Indy got the ball with 1.5 seconds left in the final period but was unable to score.  The Lady Mustangs came away with a four point conference win over the Lady Patriots.

Scoring:  Braylyn Milton 15, Sharonda Smith 12,  Alexandria Barrino 7, Brianna McManus 3, Laura Flynn 2, Ayanna Anderson 2.

Myers Park      10   13  10  12  –  45

Independence   5   13  10  13  –  41

Men’s Game

Myers Park 48, Independence 62

The Patriots jumped out to an early lead and maintained their perfect record in the Southwestern 4A Conference at 7-0 after a 62-48 victory over Myers Park.

Senior guard Jamarius Burton led the Patriots with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, two steals and 2 blocked shots.  Raja Milton added 15 points for the Patriots.  Milton also grabbed 8 rebounds and 3 assists.  Andra “AJ” McKee was the third Indy player to post double figures with 13 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and one steal.

Jordan Mobley had 8 points,  2 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals.  Matthew Smith had 7 points, 9 rebounds and one assist.  Smith finished the night with 7 blocked shots, 5 of which came in the first half.  Anthony Allen finished the night with 3 points.

Indy has finished the first half of conference play undefeated and will start the second half of the conference with a road game at Hickory Ridge Tuesday night.   I asked Coach Davis about his thoughts now that the first half of the conference was over.  Coach Davis said, “We are excited and we are where we want to be.  We control our own density and are looking forward to taking them one game at a time.  We are trying to reach our goal  which is to try to win the conference.  We know it is going to be tougher the second time through so our goal is to just get better every day.”

In the first quarter the Patriots jumped out to an 11 point lead.  Myers Park didn’t get on the board until the 4:49 mark of the first quarter.  In the final two minutes of the period, the Mustangs went on a 5-0 run and cut Indy’s lead to three points 13-10 at the end of the first quarter.

The game stayed close in the second quarter as both team scored 9 points to make the half time score 22-19 in favor of the Patriots.

The game made a big swing in the third period.  Indy out scored the Mustangs 21-10 in the third to give Indy a 43-29 lead going in the fourth quarter.

In the final period both teams scored 19 points to make the final score 62-48 giving Indy a strong hold on first place at 7-0 and a 16-1 overall record.

The second half of conference play will start Tuesday night at Hickory Ridge.

Myers Park       10   9  10  19  –  48

Independence  13   9  21  19  –  62