The Independence men’s varsity basketball team returned to the court with a vengeance after giving up their first loss to Carmel Christian 61-55 in the Queen City Clash at Charlotte Country Day. The Patriots traveled to Columbia, South Carolina to play in the Palmetto Winter Classic. Indy won three straight blow out games against playoff caliber teams and took a 81-46 win over Fayetteville Village Christian Academy to win the championship game.
Thursday’s Game
Independence 68, West Charlotte 49
In Thursday’s opening round the Patriots took a 68-49 victory over West Charlotte.
Junior guard Andra McKee led all scores with 23 points shooting 10-of-19 from the floor and 2-of-6 from the charity stripe. McKee also had 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.
Jamarius Burton added 10 points, while getting 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Raja Milton also had 10 points and 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.
Junior Matthew Smith led Indy in the rebounding department. Smith finished the night with 10 boards and 9 points. Smith also had 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots.
Miles Pauldin had 8 points shooting 3-of-4 from the floor. Pauldin had 4 rebounds and one assist. Jordan Mobley had 5 points and Anthony Allen finished the night with 3 points.
Independence 11 18 17 22 – 68
West Charlotte 12 11 9 17 – 49
Friday’s Game
United Faith Christian Academy 50, Independence 76
In Friday’s semifinal game Indy had five players scoring in double figures in the blow out win over United Faith Christian Academy.
Andra McKee led the Patriots with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Raja Milton poured in 17 points, got 5 rebounds, had 4 assists and 5 steals.
Matthew Smith posted a double double scoring 12 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Matt also had 3 blocked shots, 1 assist and 1 steal.
Jamarius Burton and Jordan Mobley scored 10 points each in the win over United Faith Christian Academy.
The Patriots shot 49% hitting 28-of-57 from the floor. From the foul line Indy hit 13-of-17 for 76%.
UFCA 14 13 10 13 – 50
Independence 19 16 20 21 – 76
Saturday’s Championship Game
Village Christian Academy 48, Independence 81
In the Championship game Indy took the lead with 4:53 remaining in the first quarter when Jordan Mobley stole the ball and hit Raja Melton breaking to the basket for the layup to put Indy up 6-5, and the Patriots never looked back as they cruised to a 33 point win over Fayetteville’s Village Christian Academy to win the Palmetto Classic Tournament Championship 81-48.
Coach Davis said: “I’m so proud of the players. Last week we talked about being so close and working so hard to get into the championship game, but we didn’t finish it. We didn’t seal the deal. We came down here and we got a second opportunity and we wanted to take advantage of it and win the tournament. It was a good win against a good team and I’m so proud of the guys.”
Raja Milton led the Patriots with 22 points, 5 rebounds, and two assists.AJ McKee poured in 18 and Jamarius Burton added 15. Jordan Mobley had 9, Matt Smith 7, Miles Pauldin 4, Travis Burgess 4, Jalen Steward-Twine 2.
Village Christian Academy 10 8 18 10 – 46
Independence 19 13 23 26 – 81
