| After a few tough loses, the Wildcats found themselves trying to climb out of a rut and things didn't look much better for them when they traveled to Charleston for a district game against the Tigers. In fact, Independence needed a win just to stay in the postseason hunt. The Wildcats responded to the adversity by going into Charleston and led the Tigers the entire game, but not by much. With a slim lead the Wildcats allowed Charleston to 'hang around" and then with just a few seconds left in the fourth the Tigers tied the game. Just when it looked like the game would go into overtime junior, Jearl Avant, hit a last second shot at the buzzer to give the Wildcats a 49-47 victory.
Not only did Avant hit the winning shot, he also led the offensive attack by scoring twenty-two points. "Jearl stepped up in a big way when we really needed it," said Coach Martin. "This is one we had to have!" London Parker also played well and scored twelve points with eight rebounds. With the win, Independence moved into the third spot in the district. "That's the magic spot," said Martin. "Anything less than third you're done for the year!"
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