Independence Tries to “Get Right” Against Spirited Ravens

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>PICTURED: [player_tooltip player_id='1318557' first='Tylan' last='Lewis'], [player_tooltip player_id='1195250' first='Jett' last='Montgomery']</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Eagles of Independence won 75-54 Monday evening against the Cane Ridge Ravens.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Independence, a team capable of returning to the State Tournament entered December with a modest 3-2 record hoping to "get right." Cane Ridge had other ideas.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Through aggressive, occasionally trapping defense the Ravens forced hosting Independence to execute crisply throughout a competitive first half. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Jett</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the second quarter [player_tooltip player_id='1195250' first='Jett' last='Montgomery'] passed 2,000 career points with a step-back three-pointer. Oddly, the game stopped abruptly and he was honored with a plaque mid-court. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1195250' first='Jett' last='Montgomery'] does deserve tremendous respect as he chases the school's all-time record of 2033 points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Montgomery finished with 25 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Tylan Terrorizes</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Independence's guard<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='1318557' first='Tylan' last='Lewis']</strong> exploited a clearance screen by teammate [player_tooltip player_id='1476191' first='Houston' last='Hicks'] to finish a crafty layup, putting IHS up 23-17 midway through the second quarter. It was the team's largest lead to that point. The Ravens called a timeout, struggling to find an offensive rhythm. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1476191' first='Houston' last='Hicks']</strong> scored the next bucket, opening it up to 25-17. Tylan dropped off a nice pass after a Raven and-1. Lewis' passing is really encouraging this season, suggestive of a future at college point guard.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Later in the second, Lewis caught a long rebound and used a hesi to get an uncontested right-hand layup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A big second quarter play occurred when a Raven drove into the teeth, kicked a pass to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2281187' first='Jaiden' last='Pugh']</strong> in the corner. Everyone on the Eagle bench wanted a charge call on the initial drive. Pugh made a three-pointer with no whistle to interrupt, 32-27, Independence led at that moment.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1476067' first='Bradley' last='Stewart']</strong> did respond with an and-1...so that helped their cause.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>https://x.com/PrepHoopsTN/status/1731853003584413732?s=20</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1318557' first='Tylan' last='Lewis'] played solid throughout, but his fourth quarter showed something extra. Tylan punched a dunk through in a scrambled, confused defensive moment. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A bit later Lewis drove into the lane and dropped off a pass to a baseline-cutting Jett. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tylan's 15 points do not tell the whole story.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lewis committed defensively the entire night too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1318557' first='Tylan' last='Lewis'] final stats: 19 pts, 8 rebs, 5 assists.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The [player_tooltip player_id='1299049' first='Da'Ron' last='Hall'] Conundrum</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1299049' first='Da'Ron' last='Hall'] is a tall forward with a feathery touch. Why does he only occasionally score above 8 points this year?!! It is truly perplexing. Hall is a senior, so he is not lost on offense. He is not overly strong, or bashing through guys, but just being 6-foot-7 with good feet. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Too often the problem is simply Hall is not touching the basketball. Does he need to show for it? Does the guards need to find him? Does the coach need to draw up a play for him?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The amount of shot attempts Hall gets in a typical game is unforgiveable. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One bright spot for Cane Ridge was <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2281187' first='Jaiden' last='Pugh']</strong>. The sophomore guard showed great court awareness and decent quickness. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1722765' first='Adam' last='Clark'] </strong>finished with 15 points, 2 rebounds,1 steal, and 2 blocks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">Cane Ridge Partial Roster</span><br>#0 [player_tooltip player_id='2281187' first='Jaiden' last='Pugh']* (2026)<br>#1 [player_tooltip player_id='2238887' first='Avyion' last='McCleton']* (2025)<br>#2 [player_tooltip player_id='1336102' first='Mareo' last='Franklin']*<br>#3 [player_tooltip player_id='1299049' first='Da'Ron' last='Hall']*<br>#10 [player_tooltip player_id='1722765' first='Adam' last='Clark']* (2025)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">Independence Partial Roster</span><br>#1 [player_tooltip player_id='1195250' first='Jett' last='Montgomery']*<br>#5 [player_tooltip player_id='1318557' first='Tylan' last='Lewis']*<br>#24 Korben Walling*<br>#34 [player_tooltip player_id='1476191' first='Houston' last='Hicks']*<br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->