The Independence Patriots had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 27.5 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Butler 39-37. That's another feather in the cap for Independence, who also won these teams' last head-to-head.
Yancey Thomason went supernova for Independence, scoring 12 points along with two steals. Another player making a difference was Tosh Alberga, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds and four blocks.
Independence used a slightly different lineup for their bout with Butler. And. The pair took full advantage of the opportunity: Thomason scored 12 points along with two steals, while he scored five points along with two steals.
When it comes to explaining why Butler lost, one person who can't be blamed is Tyler Showalter. Despite the final result, he dropped a double-double on 19 points and 15 rebounds. Showalter is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last seven games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Reece Starnes, who scored five points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Independence has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 19-5 record this season. As for Butler, their defeat ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 16-8.
Independence does not have any more games scheduled as of now. Butler also has no future games currently scheduled.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
