The Independence Patriots had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.4 points), and they went ahead and made it six on Thursday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past East Mecklenburg 45-43. Given Independence's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 41st, while East Mecklenburg is ranked 157th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Yancey Thomason was a one-man wrecking crew for Independence as he scored 23 points along with two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Thomason has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Tosh Alberga, who scored four points along with seven rebounds and three blocks.
Ahmari Hicks and Bryson Heath certainly did their best on Thursday to avoid the loss. Hicks scored 15 points along with five rebounds and two blocks, while Heath scored 13 points along with five assists and two steals. Heath hasn't dropped below two steals for four straight games. James Mciver was another key contributor, scoring six points.
Independence is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 20-5 record this season. As for East Mecklenburg, their loss dropped their record down to 13-13.
Independence and Butler will face off at 7:30 p.m. on February 23rd without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Independence is on a eight-game streak of home wins, Butler a three-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the court. As for East Mecklenburg, they will head out on the road to square off against Weddington at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Weddington has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 1,505 points over their last 21 matchups.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
