Liberty falters against defending state champs

Raymond S. Kellis girls basketball proved again why it’s the reigning 4A-II state champions and Liberty learned how much work it will take to reach the Cougars’ level.

Foul trouble and Kellis’s man defense halted Liberty’s early momentum as it fell 76-56
Wednesday in game that meant little aside from power points. Both schools flip-flopped divisions this year, with the Cougars playing in 4A-I while the Lions shifted to 4A-II.

“Foul trouble hurt us,” said Liberty coach Odell Berry. “We had to go to our bench early and we don’t have the same depth as (Kellis).”

Kellis’s parade to the line started early as the Lions were called for four fouls in the first four minutes, yet had a 10-2 edge after sophomore Megan Colvin sunk a layup in the first quarter.

Foul trouble hit Kellis (20-4, 8-1 in West Valley Region) in the second quarter when it was called for three separate fouls under Liberty’s basket during one possession. That put Liberty in the bonus and senior Danielle Leyshon hit a pair of free throws to give the Lions its largest lead of the night – 12 – midway through the second quarter, 22-10.

Liberty (16-6, 6-0 in Skyline Region) built its lead with a strong dribble-drive against the Cougars zone defense and finding the open girl down low for easy layups. Unable to contain the Lions’ half-court offense in the first quarter, Kellis switched to man-to-man and changed the game’s momentum.

Junior Jackie Cassey hit a short jumper off the wing with 3:58 remaining the first half, and senior Kayla MacKenzie followed with a steal and layup to cut Liberty’s lead to 8. Those plays triggered a 15-3 run, capped by junior Mary Driscoll’s board and bucket and Mackenzie’s steal and layup at the buzzer, giving the Cougars a 27-25 halftime edge.

“We like to run and if another team is physical we’ll try to match them,” said Kellis coach Samantha Arana. “Our goal was to come out here, run, and not allow (Liberty) to get into their half court offense. We had a difficult start, but once we settled down and pressured them things started working for us.”

The Cougars opened the third quarter with a 21-4 run, sparked by MacKenzie who had nine points during that stretch. The Kellis senior would finish with a game-high 38 points, 26 in the second half.

The Lions tried to answer with their own run, cutting the lead to 15 on Je’mishia Cottrell’s layup in the waning seconds of the third quarter. Colvin cut the Cougars’ lead to 13 with 7:23 remaining in the game, but Liberty’s rallied stalled and Kellis had opportunities at the line.

Senior Tiffany Ortega converted both ends of a one-and-one and MacKenzie followed with another pair of free throws to push the lead back to 16 for the Cougars, 62-46. Kellis shut the door as it built a 20-point lead and kept the margin there on its way to the win.

Berry said he wished his girls had a few days off to prepare for Kellis, but the schedule had them playing region foe Youngker Tuesday. Liberty won 63-19.

“Since last night was a region game, we put a little more time in preparing for that game,” Berry said. “A win tonight would have been nice for the power points, but we know we’re in the (state) tournament, it’s just a matter of weather we’re in the top 8 or the bottom 8.”

Having that certainty is nice for a program that went 4-16 last year – its first as a varsity program. While this may be Berry’s first season leading Liberty, he’s seen vast changes from that start of the year through today.

“We looked at tonight’s match up as a measuring stick to see where we are at compared to one to other top four teams in the state and what we have to do to reach their level. The girls have done a great job catching on to the system. They’ve come a long way and have worked hard to be a good team”