INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - With Montgomery County bragging rights on the line, the Independence Lady Pirates played host to the Coffeyville Red Ravens in the rivals' first head to head battle of the season. The Lady Pirates exploded out of the gate and never looked back taking the victory, 64-41.
The Lady Pirates had four players in double figures led by Kierra Crockett with 19 points, 11 points from Jessica Goodluck and Mychaell Gray and 10 points for Brittany Reeves. The Lady Pirates also had two players with a double-double with 11 rebounds from Crockett and 13 rebounds from Reeves.
"We're extremely happy with the win tonight," coach Leslie Crane said. "We felt like we let down in the second half, but we maintained enough intensity to pull out the huge victory. The stat that I liked is that we doubled them up in rebounds and pushed them to 18 turnovers making it a good night for us as our kids came in locked and loaded."
"We haven't yet gotten to watch any film, but they're a different team from last year and they're always very well coached."
In the first quarter, Independence struck first with a three from Jessica Goodluck and the lead grew to five with a quick jumper from Kierra Crockett. A jumper from Goodluck pushed the lead to seven and a steal by Crockett followed by another bucket made the score 11-0 at the 5:24 mark.
A score by Brooklyn Wade followed by a free throw got Coffeyville on the board, but Crockett again came in clutch for points with a floater just before free throws by Mychaell Gray. The Red Ravens scored again with a layup from Alana Kramer, but a 3-0 run for Sadie Jordan had the Lady Pirates leading 18-5 at the end of the period.
The second quarter began with another three for Goodluck to push the lead to sixteen and a pair of free throws by Crockett made the score 23-5. Free throws for Brittany Reeves pushed the lead out to twenty for Independence and three shots from the line by Gray made it 28-5 with 6:45 left in the half.
A floater by Crockett gave the Lady Pirates a 25-point lead, before Coffeyville answered with a three-point play by Kramer. Another trip to the line for Gray resulted in two more points for the Lady Pirates, but Kramer again would score down low before a bucket from Reeves made the score 34-10 with 4:08 remaining in the half.
A put back by Kramer and a free throw from Jayleen Cole cut the lead down to twenty-one, but a trip to the line for Crockett pushed it back to twenty-three before another basket by Crockett. Buckets by Wade and Crockett made the score 40-16 Independence going into the half.
In the third quarter, a basket by Reeves added to the lead and a three by Goodluck kept it going before a basket from Wade. Buckets from Kramer and Wade cut into the lead, but not before a three from Logan Collyer and a bucket from Gray made it 50-22 at the 4:58 mark.
Two more free throws for Kramer and a layup for the freshman had the lead down to twenty-four and a trip to the line for Riana Rangi-Brown along with a jumper for Talima Harijo paced had the Red Ravens within twenty-one points before a bank shot by Reeves.
A layup by Victoria Mikkelsen pushed the lead to twenty-five right before a basket from Rangi-Brown, but a pair of free throws from Mikkelsen had Independence leading 56-31 heading into the final minutes of play.
The fourth quarter began with a scoreless first two minutes, but a basket by Gray broke the silence for the Lady Pirates just before a three-pointer by Wade. A basket for Lasheicka Joseph cut the lead to twenty points and free throws from both teams pushed the lead to eighteen, but a three from Rangi-Brown made it 61-41 with 1:10 remaining. A run of 3-2 for Independence closed out the game with a huge victory for the Lady Pirates.
Independence (9-9, 4-7) is back in action Saturday January 26 against the Cloud County Thunderbirds with tipoff set for 6 pm.