The Independence Patriots varsity squads earned victories in Southwestern 4A Conference play as both the ladies and men won Tuesday’s games at Porter Ridge High School.
Women’s Game
Independence 63, Porter Ridge 36
The Lady Patriots are off to one of the team’s best starts since the 2008-09 season when the Lady Patriots went 19-8. With a 27-point road win over the Porter Ridge Pirates Tuesday night, the Lady Patriots are 7-3 on the season, just one game behind their eight wins from last season.
Freshman point guard Braylyn Milton led the Lady Patriots with a career high 24 points. Milton also had 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists.
Senior Brianna McManus also had a career high 17 points. She also had 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.
Indy’s Sharonda Smith added 6 points, Kalyn Perry 5, Ayanna Anderson 4, and Laura Flynn, Brianna Grant and Azuria Barrino had 2 points each, and Ashanti Barrino finished with 1 point.
Early defensive pressure helped the Lady Patriots take a 21-14 first quarter lead and held the Lady Pirates to 6 points in the second quarter to give Indy a 35-20 halftime lead.
Sharonda Smith started Indy’s second half with a 3-pointer followed by a Brianna McManus basket that put Indy up by 20 points with 6:50 to go in the third quarter.
The Lady Patriots kept up their aggressive defense and held the Pirates to only 8 third quarter points as Indy moved out to a 52-28 third quarter lead.The Lady Patriots continued with aggressive defense in the final period. Porter Ridge could manage only eight fourth quarter points while Indy scored 11 points to take the conference win 63-36 to improving their record to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
Independence 21 14 17 11 – 63
Porter Ridge 14 6 8 8 – 36
Men’s Game
Independence 90, Porter Ridge 41
The win streak for the Independence men’s basketball team stretched to six games on Tuesday night with a Southwestern 4A Conference road victory over Porter Ridge.
Junior Matthew Smith led six players in double figures for the Patriots with 18 points hitting 7-of-9 from the floor. He also had 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Andra McKee added 16 points and 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals.
Senior Jamarius Burton posted his fourth double double of the season scoring 15 points and grabbing 15 rebounds and 5 assists. Raja Milton scored 12 points and had 3 rebounds. Milton also had 6 assists and 3 steals. Jordan Mobley finished the night with 11 points which included three 3-pointers, and he had 1 steal. J. Stewart-Twine contributed 10 points, had 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. Miles Pauldin added 4 points while Anthony Allen and Amonti Burton each scored 2 points.
The Patriots got off to a fast start and went on to a 90-41 win over the Pirates. In the first quarter Indy had four player making baskets from behind the 3-point line as Indy took a double digit lead early in the first quarter. Matthew Smith and Andrea McKee led the way with 5 points each as Indy took a 21-11 first quarter lead.
In the second quarter Indy kept up their fast pace offense and their trapping defense to take a 45-22 halftime lead.
Indy started the second half staying with their fast pace offense and playing a stingy aggressive defense that held the Pirates to 10 third quarter points while pouring in 21 of their own. The Patriots led 66-32 at the end of three quarters.
In the final period Indy’s stifling defense held Porter Ridge to 9 points while scoring 24 points. J. Stewart-Twine led Indy’s fourth quarter scoring knocking in seven points as the Patriots posted a season high 90 points.
As a team, the Patriots shot 53% from the floor hitting 36-of-68 shots and was 8-for-14 from the charity stripe for 57%.
Independence 21 24 21 24 – 90
Porter Ridge 11 11 10 9 – 41
