Coal City – Matchups between Independence and Shady Spring in Coal City have been competitive well into the second half the last two years.
This year’s was over by halftime.
Shady outscored Indy 20-9 in the second quarter, pulling away for a 79-56 win over the Patriots Tuesday night at Independence.
The early portion of the game ebbed and flowed for Indy which faced a double digit deficit at the end of the first quarter before clawing back to within six points early in the second.
Then the Tigers ripped a 14-2 run that squashed all hope. It was fueled by a quarter in which they shot 58 percent (7-for-12) from the field and forced six turnovers.
“Efficiency on both sides of the ball,” Shady head coach Ronnie Olson said. “We did a good job on the defensive end but we were really efficient there running some sets, knocking shots down. That makes basketball easy. I was really worried about this game when the season started because they’ve always played us tough here but in the second quarter we really got some distance.
“They got empty possessions and we felt like we could get them in transition and we did. We got them in transition and downhill and we had them on their heels a little bit going downhill and we were able to get what we wanted on the offensive end.”
Independence felt as though the lengthy snow hiatus that saw all of last week’s schedule wiped out hurt its team more than it did Shady’s.
“I hate to say this because their defense is really good and they cause you to do some of the things that you’re doing but it’s hard for us to take a week off, practice a few days and then say, ‘Lets play Shady!'” Independence head coach Shawn Jenkins said. “That’s hard for us, and I’m not making any excuses at all.
“My hat tipped to them – and they go through it too, I get it. That’s hard for us to do and that, for me, that sums the whole game up. You can’t take off a week and – I would’ve liked to play the two games last week and I think this game’s probably a little different maybe. But the weather man didn’t allow it and it is what it is and it’s a part of basketball.”
While Shady got healthy contributions from Gabe Short, Eli Sexton, Coby Dillon and Jace Lilly – all of whom scored in double figures – Indy struggled to get its big gun in Ashton Arthur going as he was limited to just seven points.
“I thought he was sluggish,” Jenkins said. “I thought he looked methodical. I remember one time a rebound’s coming off and it’s right within distance if he looks at it and our reaction time wasn’t where it needed to be. I chalk all that up again to the same thing. They’re staying up ’til 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning, know they don’t have to go to school and have me screaming at them trying to get them in the bed but they’re kids. Sometimes you put so much on them but the reality is they’re 15, 16, 17 and 18-year-old kids.
“It wasn’t just Ashton, I thought we all looked methodical. (Brayden) Hoosier, I put him in and he’d been sick but I thought he was the freshest one. He was bouncing around. All of us were doing that last week and tonight we didn’t have it.”
Falling behind 12-4 to start, Indy found itself trailing 20-10 at the end of the first quarter. Using a bucket from Sylas Nelson as well as two more from Brock Green, Indy found itself in striking distance.
Then it was struck down.
Coby Dillon and Jace Lilly netted back to back buckets at the rim to get the run started. Green temporarily quelled the bleeding before Eli Sexton netted two of his 17 points to push the lead back to double digits at 28-18.
Gabe Short followed with a pair of buckets to push the lead to 14 before Dillon netted a pair at the charity stripe to make it 34-18.
The lead ballooned to 18 before Indy snapped the run with a free throw, ultimately trailing 40-19 at the break.The onslaught continued into the second half where the Tigers pushed hitter lead above 20 where it remained all night, hitting 34 points early in the fourth quarter.
“I go back to that’s why I had this game circled on the calendar,” Olson said. “The last couple of years these have been close games. They gave us everything that we wanted and it came down to the last possession last year and that kind of stuck with me. We don’t take them lightly but this team.
“They’re a new bunch and they’re not used to playing Independence. They just come in and play and they don’t look past anybody. I think having that now made them more excited for a game. Not saying they wouldn’t be excited for it but they definitely wanted to play because they haven’t played in so long.”
Dillon led the Tigers with 22 points in the win while Green paced Indy with 13 points.
Shady Spring
Gabe Short 13, Eli Sexton 17, Coby Dillon 22, Jace Lilly 15, Jace Bailey 6, Cutter Boggs 4
Independence
Ashton Arthur 7, Sylas Nelson 12, Kaden Bradbury 2, Brock Green 13, KJ Viars 8, Konnor James 5, Paxton Myers 2, Brayden Hoosier 6
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