The boys’ basketball team (6-4) secured a win on the road Tuesday, beating Independence (4-6) 51-50. With the victory, the Redhawks are now tied with Emerson for third place in District 11-5A. 

“Ball security was one of the major pieces of the puzzle,” assistant coach Robert Wilson said. “We knew Independence plays an aggressive style of defense, and we wanted to limit the amount of live ball turnovers. As long as they had to inbound off the turnover, we felt confident our defense would do what was necessary to be successful, even though we did let them have more ball time than we liked.”

With the one-point difference between the team’s scores, players like junior Toshiro Mahtani are acutely aware that the game could have gone either way.

“It was tough,” Mahtani said. “We had to work for every possession and point we got on the court, nothing came easy. I feel like I did a good job assisting my team. I could have played better but it’s all about the team and how we do collectively.”