Liberty 61

Fallsburg 37

LIBERTY — Holding a mere 24-21 lead at the half, it didn't seem likely that the Liberty Lady Indians would defeat their county rival Fallsburg by the same number of points they scored in the first 16 minutes of play. But they did.

Halftime adjustments by Liberty Coach Liz Fuentes and her decision to unleash the full court press, which her team executed to perfection, stifled the Lady Comets' offense in Friday's 61-37 league win.

“They [her team] were playing sloppy in the first half,” Fuentes said. “A lot of times our press is what kicks us into gear.” Fuentes added that in the second half her team played their game instead of someone else's.

The Liberty press caused a series of Fallsburg turnovers which were quickly turned to points. The Lady Indians outscored the Lady Comets 23-7 in the third quarter to break the game open.

“The third quarter killed us,” Fallsburg Coach Dan Redmond said. “They pressed us and we fell apart.”

Twenty of Liberty's 23 third quarter points were scored by Ally Roth and Annalyse Holbert who accounted for 13 and seven respectively. For the game, Roth led all scorers with 20 points, and Holbert finished with 11.

The Liberty offense was slow to get started in the first half, but Gabby Magie helped set the pace by scoring nine of the team's 11 first quarter points. She'd finish with 16.

The Lady Comets were full of fight, giving Liberty all they could handle in the first half, especially in the second quarter which they won 18-13, getting them back into the fray. Shauna Bellacicco and Essence Jackson led Fallsburg in scoring with 19 and eight points respectively on the night.

Playing without senior captain Amanda Zeno, who continues to battle Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Fallsburg's points are harder to come by. They paid tribute to their friend and leader by wearing TEAM ZENO t-shirts during warmups. Despite the result, Redmond is proud of the improvement his group showed in the game.

“I have six girls giving it their all — 110 percent,” he said. “In all my years of coaching, I couldn't be happier with a loss. It's not a win but we matured and grew as a a team.”

The Lady Comets host Ellenville tonight at 6 p.m., travel to O'Neill on Thursday night, and host Chester on Friday at 6 p.m. The latter two games are league contests.

Liberty is on the road against Port Jervis and Burke Catholic on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.

Basketball recap

In addition to the basketball games featured in this issue, here is a quick recap of the weekend's other basketball contests.

Bayer sets new school record

Chris Bayer was lights out from three-point range, hitting 11 treys and scoring 41 in Liberty's 72-26 win over Manor on Thursday night. His 11 treys is a school record for most three pointers made by a Liberty hoopster in a game. Liberty's Nasir Gibbs and Manor's Case LeRoy scored 10 points each for their respective teams.

Big league win for the Panthers

The Panthers traveled to Cornwall on Saturday, slaying the Dragons 68-53 for a big OCIAA Division III victory. Leading the way were Josh Gattling, Trevon Gray, Jordan Ruggiero and Alonzo Stergis with 20, 14, 13 and 10 points respectively.

T-V 43, Seward 32

The Bears (3-2, 1-1 OCIAA) defeated the Spartans, 43-32, on Thursday in a league contest. Austin Delaney and Noah Hendrickson scored 13 and eight points respectively.

Fallsburg 61, Chapel Field 52

The Comets defeated Chapel Field by nine on Thursday. David Parsons led the way with 24 points while Nick Fraser and Dereck Williams scored 12 points each.