Fierce Comeback Not Enough As Pirates Fall To T-Birds In Overtime
February 16, 2019
INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - After a spiral of events the past few days, the Independence Pirates hosted the Cloud County Thunderbirds to try and keep a first-round home game in reach. The Pirates got behind early but would battle back late only to fall in overtime, 99-96.
The Pirates had four players in double figures led by Anquaevious Pollard with 25 points, Tyreece Berry with 18 points, Alex Torres with 12 points and Derrick Redmon with 11 points.
"I thought we battled and never gave up," coach Tony Turner said. "Cloud made shots, but we held our composure never letting the game get out of hand, but just a few minor mistakes down the stretch was the difference."
"Our next home game is sophomore night, Wednesday against Allen County and it'll be an emotional time for those guys as they want to make the last regular season game at home memorable."
In the first half, a basket and a three by Alvin Thompson got Cloud ahead early and a three by Jacob Shields gave the T-Birds an 8-0 advantage. Another three for Shields pushed the lead to eleven before free throws for DJ Sims extended it to thirteen, but buckets for Anquaevious Pollard and Jibril Harris made the score 13-4 Cloud at the 15:30 mark
A 5-4 Cloud run had the lead at ten after a bucket from Tyler Williams and another bucket by Williams with a free throw added cut the lead to nine before a free throw from Ricky Edwards, but a three from Jerome Kidd followed by a three from Derrick Redmon made the score 21-15 at the 10:00 mark.
A 5-0 Cloud run had the T-Birds up by eleven before a bucket from Pollard and a three for Edwards cut it to six before a bucket by Nysir Scott. A three from Adetomi Ayilara pushed the lead to eleven before free throws from Thompson and a bucket by Ayilara made it a fifteen point lead, but a three by Darrell Purdie made the score 35-23 at the 4:12 mark.
A bucket for Kori Guest cut the lead to ten before free throws from Shields, but a bucket for Pollard brought the Pirates back within ten before another score for Pollard. Free throws for Shields took the lead back to ten before shots from Ayilara, but Pollard banked in a shot at the buzzer making it 41-31 Cloud at the break.
The second half began a basket from Tonje Durham before a jumper by Thompson and bank shot from Pollard, but a basket for Kidd who also made a free throw made it an eleven-point lead. A bucket for Tyreece Berry cut the lead to nine before a bucket for Cloud, but a plethora of baskets from each team made it 50-43 Cloud with 15:14 remaining in regulation.
A three for Redmon cut the lead to four before a bucket by Pollard, but Kidd pushed it back to four with a layup. A three for Edoardo Del Cadia pushed the lead to seven before another bucket from Redmon and a layup by Pollard cut the lead to three and a bucket for Harris made the score 55-54 with 11:00 remaining in regulation.
A three by Berry matched a three by Scott cutting the lead to one point before free throws from Scott who got a steal for a bucket, but a three for Purdie cut the lead to two. A free throw for Berry cut the lead to one before a bucket by Del Cadia, but two more free throws made the score 64-63 with 8:35 remaining in regulation.
A three by Alex Torres gave Independence a two-point lead before a three from Kidd put Cloud up by one and free throws for Ayilara pushed the lead to three but a three from Berry tied it up at 69-69. A free throw from Harris gave Independence the lead before a bucket by Sims, but another three for Berry made it 73-70 Pirates with 4:15 remaining in regulation.
A three-point play for Sims tied the game before a bucket from Berry, but a three from Kidd put Cloud up by one. Foul shots by Scott pushed the lead to three before a bucket from Thompson, but a bucket from Pollard made the score 80-77 with 33 seconds remaining in regulation.
Free throws for Kidd pushed the lead to five before a basket by Torres, but a free throw for Thompson and another basket by Torres made it a two-point game before a free throw by KIdd. A three for Durham tied the game at 84-84 and the game headed to overtime.
In overtime, a free throw by Del Cadia put cloud ahead before a bucket by Durham, but a layup for Scott regained the lead for the T-Birds. A free throw for Del Cadia put Cloud up by two before free throws by Torres tied it up, but a technical shot from Thompson and a free throw by Sims made the score 90-88 with 2:35 remaining.
Pollard made it a one-point game with a free throw before a bucket by Kidd and a three by Gabe Pieschl pushed the lead to six. A bucket and two free throws by Pollard cut the lead to two before Thompson hit two foul shots followed by one by Scott, but a three for Durham made it 98-96 with 1 second remaining. Cloud made one more free throw and defeated the Pirates by a three-point margin.
Independence (14-13, 9-9) returns home Wednesday February 20 for sophomore night against the Allen County Red Devils with tipoff set for 8 pm.