Spartans grab first victory; Summit sweeps ‘Border Battle’

By Maurice Patton

THOMPSONS STATION — Coming off an “embarrassing” midweek loss, Summit overcame a second-quarter scoring drought and stopped a six-game season-opening slide Friday night by defeating host Independence 57-50 in the renewal of the Border Battle.

The Spartans, a Class AAA sectional qualifier a year ago, got 18 points from junior Destin Wade and 16 from Tre Hunter in the road win – their first outing since falling 75-31 Tuesday at District 11-AAA rival Franklin.

“Tuesday was just a total embarrassment to everybody associated with Summit basketball,” second-year Spartans coach Jim Fey said after his team improved to 1-6 (1-3). “We worked really hard the last couple of days to regroup. Wednesday was OK, Thursday was pretty good, we came out strong (Friday). We had some lulls, offensively and defensively, that made it tough.”

Tre Hunter lays in two of his 16 points Friday night as Summit picked up its first victory of the season in a 57-50 decision at District 11-AAA and south Williamson County rival Independence. (Photo by Ric Beu / SM-Tn Sports)

Summit took control behind back-to-back Wade 3-pointers and a pair of Konata Werts free throws in the opening two-plus minutes – but had nothing to show for it, literally, because of a scoreboard malfunction.

“That gave us some momentum, but the scoreboard is part of the game as well,” Fey said. “If you look up there and the other team is scoring and you’re not, it can put some pressure on you. If it’s 0-0, you’re not even worried about it. You don’t know what the score is. You’re just playing.”

Leading 19-11 at the end of the opening quarter (with the scoreboard addressed), Summit was unable to add to its total for much of the second period – going nearly six minutes without a point as Independence (6-6, 3-3) scored 13 unanswered, before a Wade low-post basket made it a 24-21 game in favor of the hosts.

With a pair of free throws down the stretch and a backdoor layup before intermission, Wade had 14 points and the game was knotted at 29.

“After the loss to Franklin, how bad we lost, we came with a different mindset,” Wade said. “Coach Fey coached us up, and I think we executed pretty well. We got to the basket, made good passes, got good ball movement. Turnovers hurt us (in the second quarter).”

River Katina helped keep the contest close for the Eagles in the second half, scoring in the paint late in the third period to tie the game at 43 and converting a reverse layup midway through the fourth for a 48-all deadlock. From there, though, Hunter scored six of Summit’s final seven points to help seal the victory.

“In the second half, Tre was really good,” Fey said. “He can handle the ball, and he can really play all five positions.”

Katina finished with 18 points to lead Independence in the loss.

“They’re a very talented team,” Eagles coach Doug Keil said. “Give them credit. They came in and did what they wanted to accomplish.

“(For us) it’s another bump in the road. We’ve got to learn to fight and keep working to improve.”

Tough times continue: Summit (9-3, 4-0) was able to get its reserves some time with a 63-23 victory in the girls contest, as Independence slipped to 1-11 (0-4).

Cydney Wright responded with a game-high 16 points off the bench, with starters Delaney Noe and Ellie Colson adding 14 and 12, respectively.

Summit’s Cydney Wright (15) battles Independence’s Leah Oubre (3) for a loose ball. Wright scored a game-high 16 points Friday night as the Lady Spartans won 63-23. (Photo by Ric Beu / SM-Tn Sports)

“It was a good opportunity for us to try to develop some depth, get some young kids some reps,” Lady Spartans coach John Wild said. “Down the line, we’re going to need Emma Kate (Bratton), we’re going to need Cydney. This was extremely valuable for our program.”

Eva Nichols, with seven points, led Independence offensively.

“Out of 14 healthy players, 12 are freshmen and sophomores,” Indy coach Mary Beth White said. “We’ve got quite a few that aren’t ready to play varsity ball. But our turnover ratio was lower than it’s been in a long time.

“We’ve got two freshman point guards (Claudia Chilton, Jayla Miller), and they’ve normally struggled to take care of the ball. This was probably their best game in terms of taking care of the ball and attacking. We ran our offense, we got good shots. We didn’t hit them, but we got good shots.”

Next up: Independence’s girls will meet visiting Spring Hill in a single game Tuessday, then continue league play as Brentwood visits in a Friday doubleheader. Summit hosts Page Tuesday before traveling Friday to Dickson County in a couple of twinbills.

Summit boys 57, Independence 50

S 19 10 16 12 – 57
I 11 18 15 6 – 50

Summit (57) – Andrew Smith 3, Destin Wade 18, Keaten Wade 5, Bradley Stewart 2, Caleb Jolley 5, Tre Hunter 16, Konata Werts 8
Independence (50) – Colin Upright 1, Jett Montgomery 8, Tyus Anderson 4, Sam Womack 4, Jaxson Campbell 2, River Katina 18, Cameron Bell 8, Justin Miles 5
3-pointers – Summit 3 (Smith, D. Wade 2), Independence 3 (Montgomery, Katina 2)

Summit girls 63, Independence 23

S 16 11 23 13 – 63
I 4 4 9 6 – 23

Summit (63) – Lily Driscoll 2, Myah Kratzig 6, Delaney Noe 14, Kayla Northrup 2, Bergen Allee 3, Claudette Runk 4, Cydney Wright 16, Ellie Colson 12, Jaidyn Ramzy 2, Nicole Rizane 2
Independence (23) – Jayla Miller 1, Leah Oubre 5, Eva Nichols 7, Claudia Chilton 3, Emma Meinhardt 2, Ryan Brown 3, Cristy Martinez 2
3-pointers – Summit 4 (Noe 3, Allee), Independence 2 (Oubre, Chilton)

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