Friday’s boys’ basketball rewind: No. 16 Independence beats Butler for league title
Someone wondered aloud if the Independence and Butler football teams ever scored more points in a game than the schools’ basketball teams did in their Southwestern 4A first-place showdown Friday night.
The answer is yes. Three times in 2012 and 2013, the Patriots and Bulldogs totaled more than the 76 points their basketball teams scored Friday night.
But reducing Independence’s 39-37 last-second victory over host Butler as boring, old-time basketball would steal the credit from two neighborhood rivals that played 32 minutes of intense defense.
And all of this took place in a sold-out gymnasium before fans who seemed almost as intense as the players.
The victory left Independence (19-5, 11-1) as Southwestern 4A regular-season champions. Butler finished the regular season at 16-8, 10-2.
In the end, the Patriots’ Tosh Alberga found himself open, 10 feet from the basket, with the ball in his hands and the clock approaching 0:00. He sank a jump shot as the buzzer sounded for the winning points.
“I knew I had to score,” Alberga said. “I hoped the ball would come to me, and it did. I had to make that shot.”
“I give him credit,” Butler coach Patrick King said of Alberga. “He made the big shot when they needed it.”
A half-minute earlier, Butler’s 6-6 senior leader, Tyler Showalter, had banked in an 8-foot shot to tie the game.
“The guy we count on, Tyler, came up big when we needed him,” King said. “But then we had a breakdown on the other end.”
The defensive lapses were few.
Butler scored nearly half its points in the opening 10 minutes, building an 18-6 lead against Independence’s zone defense.
“We shot them out of their zone,” King said.
The Patriots went to more of a man-to-man defense and fought their way back into the game by going on a 10-0 run late in the second quarter.
“I thought that run they made late in the half was the difference in the game,” King said. “It gave them new life.”
Points were hard to come by, especially in the second half.
“We take a lot of pride in our defense,” Independence coach Preston Davis said.
“We knew this was the kind of game it would be,” King said.
Butler took a 34-28 lead into the fourth quarter, and both teams spent the final eight minutes trying to find ways to break down each other’s suffocating defenses. The Patriots’ Yancey Thomason sank a pair of 3-pointers, the second of which put his team up 36-35 with 2:27 left. It was the first time they’d led all night.
The Bulldogs, who lost by 11 at Independence on Jan. 19, scored only three points in the final quarter — on a Showalter free throw early in the period, then his basket with 32 seconds left.
“We pride ourselves on playing good defense, and Butler was playing tough tonight too,” Alberga said.
King said he told his team that Independence-Butler Part III could come next Friday, in the Southwestern 4A tournament finals at Rocky River High.
“It’s very possible that we’ll play each other again,” he said. “Our guys want that opportunity.”
Friday’s #BIG5 top performers
Tosh Alberga, Independence: Hit game-winning basket in a 39-37 win over Butler to give the Patriots a win over their rival and the Southwestern 4A conference title.
Markus Kerr, Chambers: In a 94-61 win over Mallard Creek, Kerr had 17 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Caden Caskey, Ardrey Kell: Caskey had a game-high 20 points in a 64-44 win over Palisades.
Isaiah Evans, North Mecklenburg: The McDonald’s All-American had a game-high 33 points in a 104-33 win over West Charlotte.
Robert Magner, Pine Lake Prep: In a 60-43 win over Community School of Davidson, Magner had a game-high 24 points and his team to a share of the CSAC conference championship.
Friday’s box scores
▪ Observer Sweet 16 rankings included
NO. 1 MYERS PARK 76, SOUTH MECKLENBURG 39
South Meck 9 15 9 6 — 39
Myers Park 19 21 22 14 — 76
SOUTH MECKLENBURG 39 — Peter Moye 26
MYERS PARK 76 — Sadiq White Jr 16, Bishop Boswell 15, Sir Mohammed 13, Ashton King 12
Records: South Meck 20-4, 7-3; Myers Park 22-2, 10-0
NO. 2 NORTH MECKLENBURG 104, WEST CHARLOTTE 33
West Charlotte 11 2 12 8 – 33
North Mecklenburg 27 39 18 20 – 104
WEST CHARLOTTE 33 — Coleman 8, Faison 6, Blakeney 5, Grier 4, Pressley 4, Littlejohn 4, Nicholson 2
NORTH MECKLENBURG 104 — Isaiah Evans 33, Trey Maxwell 18, Chadlyn Traylor 13, Ezra Jamison 10, Young 9, Pierce 8, Davis 8, Matthews 4
NO. 8 CHAMBERS 94, MALLARD CREEK 61
Chambers 32 35 20 7 — 94
Mallard Creek 13 26 9 13 — 61
CHAMBERS 94 — Markus Kerr 17, Chandler McKoy 2, Malik McCotter 11, Tarris Bouie 13, Jordan Patton 18, Jaydon Terrell 4, Desmond Martin 3, Rahzere Anderson 4, Cameron Thompson 10, Maurio Hanson 12
Notables: For Chambers, Jordan Chambers (18 points, seven rebounds), Markus Kerr (17 points, six rebounds, four steals, three assists); Tarris Bouie (13 points, five rebounds, two assists); Maurio Hanson (12 points, seven rebounds, four assists) and Malik McCotter (11 points, five assists, two rebounds) had strong games.
NO. 16 INDEPENDENCE 39, BUTLER 37
Butler 14 6 14 3 — 37
Independence 6 12 10 11 — 39
BUTLER 37 — Tyler Showalter 19, Milligan 6, Starnes 5, Currence 4, Grier 3
INDEPENDENCE 39 — Thomason 12, Alberga 8, Johnson 8, Neely 5, Kal Jasper 4, Bosley 2
Notable: Independence wins the Southwestern 4A at 19-5, 11-1. Butler finishes at 16-8, 10-2
MOORESVILLE 73, NO. 5 LAKE NORMAN 71
Lake Norman 14 14 26 17 — 71
Mooresville 11 17 24 21 — 73
LAKE NORMAN 71 — Googins 1, Yates 11, Lynch 8, McKinnon 21, Arnold 8, Steinour 22
MOORESVILLE 73 -- Nolan Ericson 21, Eian Bailey 13, Christian Wilson 9, Dylan Clark 8, Bryson Demby 7, AJ Parsley 7, Jalen Chambers 5, Kyri Wilson 3.
Notable: For Mooresville, Christian Wilson had five rebounds. Clark had two blocks. Parsley had five assists. Chambers had three steals. Kyri Wilson had five rebounds, eight assists and three steals.
Record: Mooresville 16-8
ARDREY KELL 64, PALISADES 44
Ardrey Kell 16 21 18 9 — 64
Palisades 11 14 5 14 — 44
ARDREY KELL 64 — Caden Caskey 20, Brett Freeman 12, Delani Hammonds 11, Bryceton Thomas 9, Jake Weckerle 5, Owen Wacker 4, Preston Griffiths 3
PALISADES 44 — Truesdale 6, Reeves 2, Davis 5, Simpkims 7, Standdifer 10, Jackson 6, Dillard 2, Fenn 6
Record: Ardrey Kell 17-7, 6-4
CONCORD 80, EAST ROWAN 34
Concord 22 15 20 23 — 80
East Rowan 8 8 6 12 — 34
Concord 80 — Jeremiah Howard 24, Jaden Reid 16, Chris Arellano 8, Jabari Byrd 8, Judah Freeman 8, Bralen Crowder 7, Carter Starnes 5, Keyon Phillips 4
East Rowan 34 — J. Wemboula 11, B. Thomas 9, D. Jones 4, B. Chesney 3, PJ Butler 2, D. Gibson 2, C. Krider 2, M. McKenzie 1
Notable: Jeremiah Howard collected yet another double-double with both game highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds. The Concord Spiders finish in a tie for second place in the South Piedmont conference with Jay M. Robinson and will host West Rowan in the first round of the SPC Conference Tournament on Monday at 6pm
Records: Concord 15-9, 12-4; East Rowan 3-20, 2-14
EAST MECKLENBURG 58, PROVIDENCE 44
East Meck 14 12 15 17 — 58
Providence 10 12 6 16 — 44
EAST MECKLENBURG 58 — Jordan Buzzard 14, Bryce Heath 12, Ahmari Hicks 12, Derrick Rupert 10, Johnson 7, Mciver 4
PROVIDENCE 44 — Jack Siegel 16, C. Gaither 13, Conde 6, Taylor 5, Drayton 2, Black 1, Johnson 1
LINCOLNTON 67, WEST LINCOLN 51
Lincolnton 13 12 22 20 — 67
West Lincoln 14 10 7 19 — 51
LINCOLNTON 67 — Khalil Yarborough 17, Tyler McClain 16, Landen Lyerly 15, Khamoni Heath 9, Sabur Mannsur 4, Cam Smith 2, Gaige Ikard 2, Andrew Phelps 2
WEST LINCOLN 51 — Mikalister Anderson 20, Gideon Allen 8, Jayden Gyunn 7, Landon Darty 4, Evan Hartsoe 4
Notable: The Wolves came out on top vs Rival West Lincoln. Puts the Wolves at 2-0 this season against the Rebels. Tyler McClain started the night off hot making four 3-pointers in the first half and he finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Khalil Yarbrough had a big second half, scoring 15 of his 17 points to go with eight rebounds. Landen Lyerly finished with 15 pts and eight rebounds as well.
Record: Lincolnton 18-6; West Lincoln 3-21
PINE LAKE PREP 60, COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF DAVIDSON 43
Pine Lake 15 17 7 21 — 60
CSD 14 9 10 10 — 43
PINE LAKE PREP 60 — Robert Magner 24 Lucas Strickfaden 14 Ethan Morgan 6 Joseph Bruce 5 Wes Statzer 4 Jamie Lawson 3 Daniel Coleman 2 Braden Gower 2
COMM. SCHOOL 43 — Dermot Lowry 20 Jack Shields 13 Moran 6 Ferguson 4
Records: Pine Lake 17-7, 11-2
ROCKY RIVER 96, GARINGER 62
Rock River: 28 26 21 21 — 96
Garinger: 8 16 17 21 — 62
ROCKY RIVER 96 — Johnson 13, Walton 12 Brantley 11, Houston 7,Davies 4, Ross 21, Washington 11, Little 5, Muin 3, Carr 9
GARINGER 62 — Sham 11, Ray 40, Coby 4, Josh 3
