On Friday night at Independence High School, Indy honored two of their Lady Patriots. Seniors Brandi Jackson and Sharonda Smith, playing in their last home game, were recognized before the start of Friday’s game. The ladies along with their parents and family members received a standing round of applause from those in attendance.
The first period saw both teams having shooting problems. The first basket was not scored until the 5:14 mark when Myers Park connected on two free throws. Indy’s Braylyn Milton went to the charity stripe and tied the score at the 4:06 mark. Before the period ended the Lady Mustangs had drilled two 3-pointers and made a shot from the free throw line to take a 9-2 first period lead.
In the second period Myers Park moved out to an eight point lead 13-5 but saw the Lady Patriots cut the lead to three points 13-10 with 53 seconds left on the clock. However, Myers Park hit a baseline shot to take a 15-10 halftime lead.
The Lady Mustangs opened the second half with a 3-point basket to take an 18-10 lead. At the 6:25 mark Myers Park had an eight point lead 20-12. The Lady Patriots went on a run of their own. Sharonda Smith got things going with a 3-pointer cutting the score to 20-15 Braylyn Milton hit a 3-point basket to cut Myers Park’s lead to two 20-18. With 4:32 left in the period, Milton went to the line and nailed two free throws to tie the score at 20-20. But, unfortunately, the Lady Patriots turned the ball over and Myers Park moved back into the lead 22-20. And thirty seconds later the Lady Mustangs hit a 3-pointer to take a five point lead 25-20.With 2:36 remaining Indy’s Julia Rohlfing hit a basket cutting the score down to 3 points. But Myers Park answered with a field goal and a 3-pointer to take a 30-24 lead heading into the final stanza.
As the fourth quarter got underway, Braylyn Milton cut Myers Park’s lead to three points on a baseline 3-point basket. By the 5:55 mark Myers Park had moved out to a six point advantage 33-27. Indy’s Grace Breckenridge hit a short jumper to cut the lead to four 33-29. At the 5:18 mark Breckenridge pulled down an offensive rebound and got the stick back to make Indy’s deficit four 35-31. The Lady Mustangs answered with a top of the key 3-pointer. With 2:38 remaining Ayanna Anderson got a hard fought rebound scored and drew a foul. Anderson made her foul shot which cut the score 40-36. Once again Myers Park answered with a 3-pointer. With less than two minutes left to play, Myers Park was content to hold the ball and run as much time off the clock as they could. The Lady Patriots had to start fouling, one of which was called an intentional foul that gave Myers Park a ten point lead 47-37. With the clock on Myers Park side, the Lady Patriots ran out of time and took a 50-41 conference loss. The loss put the Lady Patriots in fifth place behind Myers Park.
These two teams will face off in the opening round of the Southwestern 4A Conference tournament on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. at Myers Park High School. Braylyn Milton led the Lady Patriots with 22 points Sharonda Smith scored 5, Ayanna Anderson 5, Grace Breckenridge 4, Azuria Barrino 2 and Julia Rohlfing 2.
Myers Park 9 6 15 20 – 50 Independence 2 8 14 17 – 41
