Gallery by Heather Belcher
Independence head girls basketball coach Mark Cuthbert said before the season started that senior Alyssa Daniels could be a real surprise for his team.
He went on to say that the first-year high school player was really skilled and could be one of his team’s leading scorers.
Saturday afternoon Daniels showed why her coach was so optimistic, pouring in 29 points to lead the Patriots past county rival Liberty 61-38.
“Alyssa is an all-around player. She puts it on the floor, but she also made some amazing passes tonight,” Cuthbert said. “If she continues to improve, she can really help us down the line.”
Daniels was hot from the start drilling a 3-pointer from straight away before she scored on a coast-to-coast drive for a 5-0 Indy lead.
Brooke Brown muscled her way in for Liberty’s first basket, but the next 10 minutes belonged to Independence.
Alli Hypes scored on two looks inside before Daniels cashed in an old-school 3-point play after she was fouled on an inbounds play.
“Alli is a softball player at heart and she plays hard,” Cuthbert said. “We had to coax her to play a little harder in basketball and those days have really helped.”
When Daniels found Hypes again in transition, the Patriots led 14-2 after the first quarter.
“We played really good defense and that is really what we have worked on,” Cuthbert said. “To beat the better teams, we are going to have to play solid defense. Tonight our defense turned into offense.”
Chloe Honaker fueled the Indy momentum to start the second quarter with a nice lob pass into Makaila Bolen who scored inside.
A steal and a layup from Honaker was followed by another basket from Bolen off dribble penetration by Daniels.
Daniels pushed the lead to 25-2 when she hit a deuce and her second triple of the game.
Back-to-back long balls from Kirsten Miller and Chloe McGhee stemmed the tide for Liberty, but when the halftime horn sounded, the Raiders trailed 32-8.
“We did play well as a team today and we moved the ball. We haven’t been able to practice in awhile and they were scared half-to-death out there at first,” Liberty head coach Denise Arline said. “The shots just didn’t fall early and that is where you could really tell we hadn’t practiced.”
The Independence lead was 51-20 after three quarters before Liberty started to find the mark in the final period.
“We started to get going late in the game, but you can’t get that far behind. Chloe (McGhee) was really good tonight later in the game,” Arline said. “If we would have been able to practice, we would have made a lot more. They didn’t give up though and they always play hard.”
McGhee led the Raiders with 15 points, while Brown added 11 and Kirsten Miller scored nine.
Hypes scored 12 for Indy and Honaker had 10.
“It was just good to get out and play. We have had 24 or 25 days off, so anytime you can play now is great,” Cuthbert said. “We have worked really hard practicing over those days and they have really improved.”
Independence travels to Greater Beckley Monday, while Liberty hosts River View Tuesday.
L: 2 6 12 18 – 38
I: 14 18 19 10 – 61
Liberty 38
Kirsten Miller 9, Chloe McGhee 15, Kady Jarrell 3, Brooke Brown 11. Totals: 15 1-2 38.
Independence 61
Sarah Bragg 1, Jenna Harvey 2, Makaila Bolen 4, Alli Hypes 12, Chloe Honaker 10, Alyssa Daniels 29, Bella Green 2, Nikki Jarrell 1. Totals: 23 12-19 61.
3-pointers – L: 7 (Miller, McGhee 5, Jarrell); I: 3 (Daniels 3)
