Independence scored 23 points in the fourth quarter to put away the Hickory Ridge Ragin’ Bulls 65-38 in a Southwestern 4A Conference game played at Hickory Ridge High School.

With 2:28 remaining in the first period Indy had jumped out to a 10-2 lead before Matthew Smith had to go to the bench after picking up his second personal foul.  Without Smith’s defensive presence, the Ragin’ Bulls went on an 8-0 run to cut Indy’s lead to two points 10-8 at the end of the first period.

With Smith sitting out the second quarter, Hickory Ridge cut Indy’s lead to one point 15-14 with 4:47 to go in the first half.  With 3:30 remaining Anthony Allen hit a 3-pointer to put Indy up 20-16.  At the 1:40 mark the Bulls had cut the lead back to two points.  Indy’s junior guard Raja Milton stole the ball, drove to the basket and was fouled on his layup attempt.  Milton went to the line and made both of his foul shots putting Indy up 22-18.

The Bulls were content to hold the ball and take the last shot.  With 29 seconds left in the half, Indy’s Jamarius Burton came up with a steal and passed to Milton who was breaking for the basket.  Milton’s shot was blocked, but the Bulls were called for basket interference and the basket counted to make the score 24-18 with 18 seconds remaining in the first half.  On the defensive end the Patriots went to sleep and allowed a Bulls’ player to get behind them for an easy pass and layup to make the score 24-20 at the end of the first half.

Matthew Smith returned to the lineup at the start of the third quarter and played the second half without picking up any more fouls.  The Patriots poured in 18 third quarter points to take a 42-30 lead going into the final period.

In the final period the Patriots’ defense shut down the Ragin’ Bulls holding them to only 8 fourth quarter points.  With 5:39 remaining on the clock Indy took a 19 point lead 49-30 on Jordan Mobley’s fourth 3-pointer of the night.  A few seconds later Jamarius Burton throw down a dunk, and Indy never looked back as they went on to take a 65-38 conference victory over the Ragin’ Bulls.

Jamarius Burton and AJ McKee led the Patriots with 13 points each.  Burton finished the night with 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals.  McKee pulled down 4 rebounds and had 3 assists and 2 steals.

Matthew Smith and Jordan Mobley added 12 points each.  Smith led the team in rebounding with 8 boards.  He had 6 blocked shots, 1 assist and 1 steal.  All of Mobley’s 12 points came from behind the 3-point arch.  He also had 1 blocked shot, 1 assist and 2 steals.

Raja Milton had 4 points, 4 assists and 3 steals.  Lloyd Latta hit a 3-pointer and had 1 assist and 1 steal.  Anthony Allen and Jalen Stewart-Twine had 3 points each.  Miles Pauldin finished the night with 2 points and 1 blocked shot.

Independence  10  14  18  23  –  65

Hickory Ridge    8  12  10   8   –  38