Second-half surge is key to Liberty win against rival Hazen
January 5, 2009
By Jim Feehan
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Rayssa Lira, of Liberty, is fouled by Hazen’s Airashay Rogers (far left) while putting up a shot in the third quarter in the Highlanders’ gym. Photo by Greg Farrar.
Katie Growden scored 11 of her team-high 16 points in the third quarter to lead Liberty High School to a 65-38 victory against Hazen High School Jan. 3.
At halftime, the teams were tied at 25. For the five and a half minutes following, the game remained close, with the Patriots up by one point, 33-32, with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter.
Then, Growden, a 5-foot-4 senior guard, went to work. She hit a jumper to put the Patriots up 35-32. Hazen’s Michelle Wnek made a free throw to close the gap to 35-33. At 2:02, Growden hit a pull-up jumper to make it 37-33.
She then stole Hazen’s ensuing inbound pass and fed teammate Corrina Van Hurston for an easy layup, putting the Patriots up 39-33.
Liberty scored four more points on a Halie Ericksen layup and a Corrina Fuentes pull-up jumper from the top of the key, pushing the Patriot lead to double-digits, 43-33.
With 16.8 seconds remaining in the quarter, Growden hit a 3-pointer and was fouled by Wnek. Growden hit the subsequent free throw for a 4-point play. Fuentes scored in the closing seconds to put Liberty up 49-33.
In the final two and a half minutes of the third quarter, Liberty went on a 16-1 scoring run. Hazen scored only five points in the final quarter.“I thought we were playing a little bit timid in the first half and urged the players to pick it up a little bit,” Liberty coach Randy Leifer said. “Hazen was doing a nice job. They were getting up in our face and they got us back on our heels a little bit. Our girls started doing what they’re capable of.”
Hazen’s top two scorers were plagued by early foul trouble and both Airashay Rogers (averaging 13.7 points per game) and Darrallita Taylor (7.8 points per game) fouled out at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
With the win Jan. 3, Liberty advanced to 6-1 overall, 3-0 in KingCo League action. Hazen fell to 3-3 overall, 1-2 in the Seamount League.
Hazen coach Jeff Bernhardt said he was proud of his team’s effort. He said the game against Liberty was a measuring test for the Highlanders.
“Liberty is a top 10 team in the state, or a team receiving votes, and we really haven’t had real great competition so far,” he said. “Our big thing was we weren’t going to spot them in the first quarter. We wanted to come out and match their intensity.”
After one quarter, Liberty led 12-10. Hazen came on strong in the second quarter and lead by seven points, 23-17, at one point. At 1:10 remaining until halftime, Growden hit a 3-pointer to cut Hazen’s lead to 25-23. Van Hurston scored to tie the game at 25 going into halftime.
Liberty’s 6-foot-tall sophomore center Danni Sjolander picked up her fourth foul with 6:59 remaining in the third quarter. Ericksen, a 5-foot-10-sophomore forward, came off the bench and contributed four points and several key rebounds.
“I think we’re a very deep and athletic team. I think that’s one of our strengths,” Leifer said. “We can go nine or 10 deep.”
Liberty’s balanced attack included Sjolander, Van Hurston and Breanne Faehnrich each scoring nine points.
Rogers, a 5-foot-7-inch freshman guard, led Hazen with 16 points. Taylor scored 10 for the Highlanders.
Liberty’s next two games are at home: a nonconference battle Jan. 9 with Fife and a Jan. 14 KingCo league game against Juanita.
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Thank you for giving the Liberty Girls basketball team alittle press. Thanks again