COLBY, Kan. - After being on a skid for several games, the Independence Lady Pirates hit the road to face the Colby. The Lady Pirates got out to a big lead with a full circle of team effort and never looked back defeating the Trojans by a final score of 85-47.
The Lady Pirates had four players in double figures led by Mychaell Gray with 15 points, Sadie Jordan with 14 points and Brittany Reeves and Victoria Mikkelsen each with 12 points.
"The difference in the game tonight was rebounding," coach Leslie Crane said. "We did a great job sharing the ball and had everyone in some kind of scoring capacity."
"Defensively is where we did so well and took away lots of opportunities from Colby, but when you score like we did tonight and share the ball it makes it harder to guard the shots."
In the first quarter, Independence scored first with a put back from Kierra Crockett and extended the lead to 4-0 after a layup from Brittany Reeves. Crockett scored again with a quick floater and Independence's lead would grow to eight after substitutions with a quick shot by Victoria Mikkelsen at the 5:00 mark.
A shooting foul sent Jordan Dixon to the line to make Colby's first points and another foul got one shot to go from Mauri Scales cutting the Lady Pirates' lead down to five before a quick layup by Mikkelsen. A bucket from Mychaell Gray made the score 12-3 and free throws by Fatarah Kinnard and Crockett had the lead out to 11 points to end the period.
The second quarter began with a bank shot from Reeves followed by a layup from the freshman to push the score to 18-3 with 8:00 remaining in the first half. A 7-3 run after two fouls shots from Gray pushed the Independence lead out to 19 points and two foul shots by Sadie Jordan made the score 27-6 before a three-pointer from Scales with 5:00 remaining in the half.
A 5-3 scoring run for Colby's Kiara Knight made the score 30-13 and a three-point play from Michaela Bethel after a free throw had the Lady Pirates up by 15 points with 3:00 remaining in the half. A layup by Kinnard made it 33-16, but a three from Knight cut the lead down to 14 points. Gray and Knight went back and forth scoring at will with Gray winning the battle 4-2 and a floater from Crockett with 3 seconds before half had the Lady Pirates leading the Trojans 39-21 at the break.
In the third quarter, a steal by Jessica Goodluck turned into an easy basket and a three-pointer by Logan Collyer after a Colby free throw made the score 44-21. A 6-2 run after a jumper from Macie Price made it 50-23 and scores by Reeves and Mikkelsen had Independence leading by 31 points at the 4:20 mark.
After a bucket by the Trojans, baskets from Jordan and Mikkelsen pushed the Lady Pirates' lead to 33 points before a layup from Bethel. Bethel scored again in transition to cut the lead down to 29 and a basket from Tamia Mobley followed by another Colby score had the Lady Pirates leading 58-33 heading to the final minutes.
The fourth quarter began with a 4-2 Colby run after a three-pointer from Jordan Dixon making the score 60-37 in favor of the Lady Pirates. Four free throws from Gray pushed the lead to 27 points and a 5-2 run after a three-pointer from Ania Markowska and layup by Mikkelsen had the score at 69-39 with 6:00 remaining. A three-pointer by KInnard pushed the lead to 33 points and the game ended on a 13-8 Independence run, and the Lady Pirates walked out with a very impressive victory.
Independence (7-8, 2-6) is on the road again Monday January 14 traveling to Chanute to face the Neosho County Panthers with tipoff set for 5:30 pm.