Basketball Recap: Independence Takes a Loss

Independence suffered their biggest defeat since January 24th on Saturday. They came up short against the Rootstown Rovers, falling 59-36. While losing is never fun, the Blue Devils can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 388th, while the Rovers are ranked 42nd).

Sasha Nichols continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines for Rootstown, going 7 for 14 on her way to 16 points and seven rebounds. The dominant performance gave Nichols a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kelsey Bittecuffer, who posted 13 points and three steals.

Independence's loss dropped their record down to 3-3. As for Rootstown, they pushed their record up to 6-0 with the win, which was their 18th straight at home dating back to last season.

Independence didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 52-27 defeat against Berkshire on the 17th. As for Rootstown, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 59-49 victory against Mogadore on the 18th.