LIBERTY – Throughout the athletic year, things change quickly. Football, soccer and cross-country gives way to skiing, wrestling and basketball. But for the Liberty Indians, the change at the end of this year will be much larger, as they will be rebranding under a new mascot. The Liberty Indians hosted their final game against Tri-Valley on Thursday afternoon, preceding the jv and varsity girls.

After dropping their senior night to S.S. Seward on Wednesday afternoon, the Indians were back in action against a Class C opponent as the Tri-Valley Bears came to town. The Bears, who on Wednesday night clinched a Sectional berth with a win over Sullivan West, came out sluggish. Liberty capitalized early and often in the first quarter, jumping out to a 27-5 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Both teams added nine points to their total in the second, but Liberty’s commanding 22-point lead stood throughout the half.

In the third quarter, Tri-Valley had slightly edged their opponents 15-14, until a buzzer-beating three by Cody Ricco gave Liberty a 24 point lead entering the fourth.

Liberty’s offense turned up in the final quarter, scoring 24 points while giving up just 14 to their opponents and bringing home a 77-43 win in their final game.

Liberty’s offense was paced by Cody Ricco’s 30 points. Tanner Bury added 19 and Londyn Guara scored 15 in the win.

“Cody was hitting from everywhere,” Liberty coach Matt Robinson said. “Tanner and Londyn also played well. Tonight the seniors had the perfect last game to end their career. We had a good group this year, and the season could have gone a bunch of different ways.”

“We were tired tonight and it showed,” Tri-Valley coach Kevin Delaney said. “Our top six guys played a lot of minutes after our game last night.”