Slow first halves doom Indees against C-FC, Mel-Min


            Independence junior Brandon Sylla looked for an open teammate as the Melrose-Mindoro defense closed in on him during last Friday’s 62-43 loss at Melrose-Mindoro High School.     (Times photograph by Benjamin Pierce)

A full speed attack from one of the top offenses in the Dairyland Conference was too much for the Independence boys basketball team to overcome last Friday.

Melrose-Mindoro (11-2, 7-0 Dairyland Large) opened the game on a dominant 12-0 run, one that saw the Mustangs force multiple turnovers from the visiting Indees. 

The run set the tone in a 62-43 loss for the Indees. Independence also lost to Cochrane-Fountain City on Tuesday.

Independence (4-12, 1-6 Dairyland Small) trailed the hosts for the entire first half after the Mustangs repeatedly took advantage of multiple Independence turnovers and fast breaks. 

The hosts held a 35-16 lead at the break.

The Indees played a much tighter game in the second half, one in which the teams sawed off the scoring at 27 for each side.

Tyler Kingsbury scored 23 points for the Indees and continues to draw closer to a career milestone—the senior was 32 points away from 1,000 career points as of Monday.

Melrose-Mindoro spread their scoring on Friday but was led by an 18-point night from 6-foot-7 forward Korbin Lockington. Three others scored at least 10 points for the Mustangs.

Ben Pyka finished with a double-double for the Indees, scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Independence was scheduled to host Dairyland Large opponent Augusta (4-11, 4-4) on Monday.

Independence (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-points)—Kingsbury 9/20-0/2-7-23; B. Pyka 4/11-2/8-12-10; Sylla 1/4-0/0-2-2; Santllian 1/2-0/0-0-2; Montalvo 1/3-1/2-2-3; N. Pyka 0/2-3/4-8-3; Flores 0/3-0/0-5-0.

C-FC 75 Independence 57

It was another breakout performance for Independence’s Kingsbury, but the Pirates’ balanced attack was too much for the Indees to overcome.

Kingsbury knocked down five three pointers in the game as he racked up 31 points to lead all scorers, but C-FC was able to move the ball around to score 37 points in the first half and take an 11-point advantage into halftime.

The second half was much of the same as the Indees struggled to get stops and C-FC pulled away.

The Pirate shad four players score in double figures as they shot 46 percent from the field, compared to 35 percent for the Indees.

Carlos Montalvo was second on Independence with 12 points while Brandon Sylla added nine, Ben Pyka, four and Carson Rajkowski, one. 

Independence (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-points) — Rajkowski 0/1-1/2-1-1 Kingsbury 11/21-4/5-1-31 Pyka 2/12-0/2-4-4 Sylla 2/7-4/4-3-9 Santillian 0/4-0/0-4-0 Montalvo 4/7-1/2-4-12 Pfaff 0/0-0/0-1-0 N. Pyka 0/2-0/0-6-0

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