GARFIELD HEIGHTS — Independence leaned on its depth and timely playmaking to secure its first road win of the season, pulling away for a 59-50 victory over host Trinity in a Chagrin Valley Conference Metro Division showdown Friday night.
The Blue Devils got key contributions from across the lineup, with Bobby Jackson’s late first-quarter spark, Ryan Suhy’s perimeter shooting, and Levi Sears’ nonstop effort setting the tone.
“These guys are a huge part of what we’re doing,” said Independence head coach Matt Grendel. “When Bobby first checked into the game, he made an immediate impact right away, and that helped us build on our lead. We as coaches love seeing Ryan knock down those threes. We know he’s a good shooter, and hopefully, his hitting those today will continue to raise his confidence. And then Levi, there’s not enough good things to say about him between his hustle, hard work, effort, and doing whatever it takes to help the team.”
Trinity struck first as Jordan Campbell and Princeton Warren knocked down 3-pointers for an early 8-3 lead. Independence responded with a Liam Rienerth layup and a Matty Jirmasek jumper to tie the game at 12-12.
Jackson then changed the tempo. Coming off the bench, he delivered a quick sequence of a block, rebound, and basket, followed by a corner 3-pointer on the next possession to give Independence a 17-12 lead after one quarter.
The Blue Devils continued to build separation in the second. Sears grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Suhy for a triple, Jackson added another three, and Jirmasek converted back-to-back steals into points as Independence stretched the margin to 30-19.
Campbell’s late 3-pointer trimmed the Trinity deficit to eight at halftime.
Independence opened the second half with a strong response after a DeMarcus Taylor layup. Rienerth finished a left-handed layup with english, then Jackson threaded a pass to Sears for an and-one as the Blue Devils pushed the lead to 35-26.
Taylor answered with an and-one of his own, cutting the deficit to 38-32, heading into the fourth quarter.
Suhy opened the final period with a 3-pointer, and after baskets were traded between Campbell and Rienerth, Independence maintained control with a double-digit lead. Suhy later drilled his third triple of the night to make it 51-39, but Campbell kept Trinity within reach with back-to-back threes to cut it to 51-45.
Rienerth closed the door, delivering bounce passes to Jirmasek and Sears for key buckets that sealed the 59-50 win.
Entering the night, Jirmasek’s 21.6 points per game made him the focal point of Trinity’s defense, but Independence’s balanced attack proved difficult to contain.
“They made life tough on us defensively, and they had some hidden gems for sure,” said Trinity senior Uchenna Njoku. “We knew they had a star player, but they came out and showed they had more than that. We just had to push through.”
The victory marked Independence’s first road win of the season, a notable milestone in the CVC, especially on Granger Road.
“This win shows a lot of maturity and trust in one another for this group,” Grendel said. “They were able to stick together and not get too down when we turned the ball over. I’m really proud of our team, and I’ve seen a lot of growth from our players. We saw that translate tonight of the digging in when things are tough to get that win, and I’m very proud.”
Independence entered the night having played just two games since Christmas, both losses, and continues to work through some rust as it sits at 5-4.
“If we can just maintain focus on getting better every single day and get on a roll here, we can hopefully hit our stride,” Grendel said. “As we start to pick up more games here, I think we can get rolling in this back-half of our season.”
Jirmasek led the Blue Devils with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, adding eight rebounds and two steals. Sears finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and three blocks, while Suhy added nine points. Rienerth chipped in eight points and five assists, and Jackson rounded out the effort with eight points, four rebounds, two steals, an assist, and a block.
For Trinity head coach Dan Urban, the outcome came down to effort and discipline.
“We’re just not good enough right now. We’re not disciplined enough. We don’t play hard enough, and Indy just played way harder than us tonight,” he said.
The Trojans made several runs but could not overcome the deficit as they fell to 3-10.
“I think our guys still think they’re better than what we are. I think our guys really believe these teams that come in here, we’re just that much better than,” Urban said. “They think that we can just walk out here with no emotion and win, but we’re not that good of a team right now to do that.”
Campbell led Trinity with 17 points and two steals, Taylor added 11 points, and Njoku scored 10.
Independence travels to Oberlin on Jan. 20, while Trinity faces Barberton at a neutral site on Jan. 18.
