Independence’s Kingsbury tops historic week with buzzer-beater

It was already a memorable week for Independence High School senior Tyler Kingsbury.

On Thursday, the guard became the sixth ever Independence boys basketball player to reach 1,000 career points, though it came in a 58-36 loss to Alma/Pepin. That was the ninth straight loss for the Indees as they fell to Blair-Taylor, 73-49, earlier in the week (see story elsewhere in Sports). 

But Kingsbury made sure it wouldn’t be 10 straight as he nailed a three pointer from the corner at the buzzer to give his team a 49-48 road win over Eleva-Strum on Friday.

The Indees enter this week with a 5-15 record on the season (2-9 in Dairyland Conference play). They played at New Auburn on Tuesday and will host Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran on Thursday. They’ll have a week off before playing at A/P next Friday.

A/P 58 Independence 36

The Indees couldn’t recover from a slow start.

While Kingsbury scored early in the game to reach 1,000 career points, baskets were hard to come by for the Indees in the first half. Independence managed just 14 points before halftime as they trailed by 17.

The offense improved a bit in the second half, but it wasn’t nearly enough to climb out of the hole.

Brandon Sylla led Independence with 13 points while Kingsbury scored 10.

Independence (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-points) — Santillian 0/2-0/0-0-0 Rajkowski 0/1-0/0-0-0 Mendoza 2/5-0/0-0-4 Pfaff 1/1-0/0-1-2 B. Pyka 0/3-0/2-2-0 Flores 0/1-1/2-3-1 Kingsbury 3/20-4/6-7-10 N. Pyka 1/3-1/1-2-3 Montalvo 1/3-0/0-1-3 Sylla 4/11-2/3-5-13

Independence 49 E-S 48

With time winding down and his team trailing by two points, Kingsbury pushed the ball up the floor in hopes of getting a last second shot off.

The Cardinals defended him well as they forced him into the corner where two defenders were in his face, but the Independence senior released a shot from the corner as he was falling out of bounds. The ball hung high in the air before splashing through the net. Independence players stormed the court as Eleva-Strum’s looked on in disbelief. 

That saved a win that the Indees nearly let slip away. 

The Indees led for most of the game and consecutive three pointers by Sylla and Carlos Montalvo put them ahead 38-29 with 10 minutes left. 

But Independence’s offense struggled from there as the Cardinals charged back and took the lead in the final minute. But Kingsbury saved the win with a last second heave. 

Kingsbury led the Indees with 20 points while Sylla added 11.

Independence (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-points) — Kingsbury 6/24-5/6-5-20 N. Pyka 3/5-1/1-2-7 B. Pyka 2/7-1/1-9-6 Sylla 4/8-0/0-4-11 Santillian 0/3-0/2-3-0 Montalvo 1/3-0/0-0-3 Mendoza 0/1-0/0-1-0 Flores 1/3-0/0-2-2