Indy boys nip Fayetteville

By Steve Keenan

Fayetteville was never out of it.

But the Pirates could never establish enough of a rhythm to get control.

The visiting Independence Patriots built up a six-point lead in the fourth period, saw Fayetteville knot the score at 49-49 on a Nich Carte three-pointer off a MichaelAngelo Hernandez feed with 1:10 to play, then made four free throws in the final 47.3 seconds to emerge with a 53-49 victory Thursday night at Fayetteville. It was the Patriots’ first win of the season.

“Our kids played hard,” said Fayetteville coach Larry Spangler, whose team dipped to 5-4. “We had some opportunities and fought our way back.”

One of the big negatives for Spangler was his team’s effort on the offensive glass.

“We didn’t get any offensive rebounds. It was one shot, and that was it.”

Leading 41-40 after a Hernandez free throw midway through the fourth, the Patriots went to the bank and made a couple of withdrawals. Taylor Barr banked in a three-pointer at the 3:52 mark, then teammate Carnes Brown banked a runner in the lane to push the margin to six, 46-40. Fayetteville answered with two consecutive Drew Weis buckets, the first on a turnaround jumper and the second when Weis stole the ball and then got it back on an assist from Brandon Doyle for a deuce in the lane that made it 46-44 at the 2:12 mark.

Buckets by Indy’s Caleb Bolen and Fayetteville’s Carte — the latter on an assist from Weis on a cut to the basket — left the score at 48-46 before Independence’s Shaun Pack hit a free throw to push the lead to 49-46.

After Carte’s trifecta knotted it at 49-all, the visitors got four freebies from Pack (at the 0:47.3 mark and with 0:05.3 to go) — sandwiched around a Carte missed trey that would have put the Pirates ahead with 10 ticks left.

Fayetteville got eight points from Hernandez and held a 12-9 lead after one quarter. Weis drained a three from the right wing to end the first-quarter scoring.

With FHS up 17-16, Indy utilized a 9-1 spurt to gain a 25-18 cushion with 2:15 left until halftime. But, the Pirates responded with a Hernandez steal and deuce, followed by a foul line jumper from Carte, to trail just 25-22 at intermission.

Carte finished with 16 and Hernandez 13 for Fayetteville. Weis added eight, and Doyle and Corey Goodman netted six each.

Independence got 14 from Pack.

Following are some other recent scores: Girls — Valley 53, Mount Hope 30; Shady Spring 37, Oak Hill 34; and Fayetteville 50, Meadow Bridge 41; Boys — Oak Hill 72, Shady Spring 52; Mount Hope 71, Richwood 54; Oak Hill 68, Liberty 32; and Valley 74, Buffalo 50.

In the Oak Hill boys win over Shady, Jack Flournoy scored 23 and Kalif Wright 22 for the Red Devils. In the Mustangs’ win over Richwood, Mount Hope’s Kyle James tallied 37 points and surpassed the 1,000-point barrier for his career. As the FHS girls survived a challenge from Meadow Bridge, freshman Jessica Brown posted 23 points, 17 rebounds, nine steals and six blocks to lead the way.

For more on these games, see Thursday’s Tribune.

— E-mail:

skeenan@register-herald.com

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