Ashburn, Va. — After falling to the Stone Bridge Bulldogs by 14 points just nine days prior, the Independence High Schools boys basketball team knew what it needed to do to avenge that loss when the teams remet: defend, rebound, and play as a team.
The Tigers weathered two potentially-momentous Stone Bridge runs to earn a crucial win over the Bulldogs, 69-60, on February 2 in Ashburn.
“It’s a win we had to have to do anything we want to do in the postseason and accomplish any of the goals we have for this season,” Independence head coach Brian Nelson said. “It’s a win we needed on our home court against a team we’re chasing in the standings, who beat us handedly a week ago.”
Early in the first quarter, Independence struggled to rebound as Stone Bridge grabbed three offensive boards on its second possession. However, while the rebounding effort needed to pick up, the Tigers’ defense stood strong, not allowing the Bulldogs to score on any of those early offensive rebounds.
“We didn’t really defend at all in the first game as evidenced by how many points we gave up,” Nelson said. “But we defended tonight.”
With the defense intact, Independence started to spread the ball around on offense as four different Tigers scored in the first quarter to give themselves a 19-10 lead early.
Early in the second quarter, Independence junior guard Jordan Ratliff knocked down a three to extend the Tiger lead to 22-10. Then, sophomore guard Mason Ogburn became the sixth Tiger to score a few possessions later as Independence continued to spread out the Stone Bridge defense.
Trailing by 12 midway through the second quarter, the Stone Bridge offense started to come alive as senior forward Gabriel Coulthurst hit a three then knocked down a pair of free throws on the next possession. Then, Stone Bridge freshman guard Jeremiah Stanford buried a three to cut the Independence lead to 26-20, before senior guard Jordan Moore scored to make it a 4-point game.
A pair of free throws and a bucket by Stanford made it a 2-point game, before Stone Bridge sophomore guard Sam Rubino knocked down a triple to give the Bulldogs a 29-28 lead heading into the half.
“One of our Achilles’ heels this season is we let things snowball when they start to turn against us a little bit. But tonight, we didn’t let their momentum carry on for too long,” Nelson said. “They made some runs at us obviously, but we had enough answers in enough key spots to be able to hold a lead then grow a lead to where we could finally relax a little bit.”
Coming out of the half, Independence senior guard Grant Kunkle scored his first points of the night as the lead changed back in favor of the Tigers.
“Grant Kunkle is having an excellent year, he’s our leading scorer, and the only guy averaging double figures for us, but we’re anything but a one-man team,” Nelson said. “Tonight, we got contributions from lots of guys. When we play together, that’s what makes us tough, because we do have a lot of guys who can score the ball.”
Stone Bridge senior big man Omar Abushahan answered with his first bucket of the night as the back and forth battle continued until Independence senior guard Jayden Johnson and junior guard Hunter Ratliff hit back-to-back threes to create a 7-point lead for the Tigers.
Then, just like he started the first quarter, Independence junior forward Dominic Mason scored to end the third quarter as the Tigers held a 53-47 lead with eight minutes to play.
“Dominic Mason is making a big difference for us,” Nelson said. “He’s a recent addition to the starting lineup as he’s come into his own.”
That Independence lead quickly vanished as the Bulldogs opened the fourth on a 6-0 run before eventually taking a lead on a layup by senior guard Troy Marquez.
Kunkle, however, had yet another answer as he buried a three to give the Tigers a 58-57 lead which they’d never surrender.
“We played with composure down the stretch which is something this team has had to learn,” Nelson said. “It was a great opportunity for us to grow up for sure.”
Kunkle followed his go-ahead three with another three before Mason finished in the paint on back-to-back tries to re-extend the Independence lead to 66-57.
That cushion proved to be sufficient as the Tigers avenged their previous loss to the Bulldogs with a 69-60 win.
No. 4 Independence (4-4, 8-11) will look to ride their momentum into a huge game at No. 3 Riverside on February 5, before wrapping up their regular season at home against Briar Woods on February 7. No. 2 Stone Bridge (5-2, 12-6) will have their hands full with Potomac Falls on February 5 and Riverside on February 7 before reconvening with No. 1 Potomac Falls on February 9 for their regular season finale.
“This was a big step forward for us to try to creep up in the standings,” Nelson said. “We didn’t move up tonight because of this win, but we certainly put ourselves in a position to have the opportunity to do some moving between now and the end of the season.”
Andrew Weitzel captured 50+ photos at the game!
Independence Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Dominic Mason | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4-for-5 |
| Jayden Johnson | 12 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1-for-1 |
| Grant Kunkle | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3-for-6 |
| Abhay Grewal | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-4 |
| Jayden Diawatan | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Hunter Ratliff | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Mason Ogburn | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4-for-6 |
| Jordan Ratliff | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Orion Hayes | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Christian Ratliff | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Akash Udandrao | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 69 | 33 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 14-for-22 |
Stone Bridge Stats
| Stone Bridge | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Jeremiah Stanford | 21 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2-for-2 |
| Jordan Moore | 10 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0-for-0 |
| Sam Rubino | 9 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Gabriel Coulthurst | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-4 |
| Jackson Mazur | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Omar Abushaban | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Troy Marquez | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Will Layton | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Calin Burns | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 60 | 33 | 11 | 15 | 6 | 7-for-12 |