The No. 1 seeded Independence Patriots faced off with No. 4 Myers Park Mustangs in the semifinal round of the Southwestern 4A Conference basketball tournament on Thursday night at Myers Park High School.

Three Patriots reached double figures to lead Indy to a 89-72 victory and advance to the championship game against Butler.  Senior guard Jamarius Burton led the Patriots with 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field and hitting 7-of-8 3-pointers.  Andra’ “AJ” McKee poured in 18 points and had 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.  Junior Matthew “Matt” Smith posted his ninth double double of the year scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  Matt also had 4 blocked shots, 1 assist and 2 steals.  Raja Milton added 14 points, dished out 9 assists and had 2 steals.

The first quarter became a shooting contest as the two teams combined for 55 first quarter points, while the Patriots took a 29-26 first period lead.

In the second quarter the Patriots stepped up its defense and outscored the Mustangs 23-13 behind the shooting of Jamarius Burton who scored 12 second quarter points to give Indy a 52-43 halftime lead.

In the second half Jamarius Burton poured in 13 points while Matthew Smith and Raja Milton each added 9 second half points as the Patriots went on to take a 89-72 victory over the Myers Park Mustangs.

Indy will advance to the championship game against Butler on Friday night.

Myers Park       26  13  11  22  –  72

Independence  29  23  18  19  –  89