Recently, the Liberty Redhawks boys’ basketball team hosted the Wallkill Panthers for a physical and intense non-league match-up.

Liberty came away with the win in this spirited and feisty contest, 67- 56.

The Physical play was right there from the start as the Redhawks deployed a tight man-to-man defense that blanketed and frustrated the visiting team. At the end of the first quarter, Liberty was leading 19–1,1 but could have had a larger advantage if not for Wallkill’s ability to find gaps in Liberty’s defense and score easy breakaway baskets.

 The Redhawks’ dominance on the boards was the difference maker early, getting second chance points for themselves and not allowing the Panthers any offensive rebounds.

At the end of the half, Liberty’s lead had grown to 14 as they were up 35-21 heading into the locker room. Wallkill’s fast break points kept them in the game and within striking distance.

 From the start of the second half Wallkill brought a lot of energy onto the court, helping them chip away at the lead. Later in the period some of the physical play during the game forced the referees to hand out matching technical foulsto one player on each team.

  By the end of the third period, Liberty’s lead had been cut to 11. Wallkill had captured the momentum led by an aggressive defense and timely shooting. 

With 1:11 left in the game, Wallkill cut the Redhawks’ lead down to 6 but Liberty’s decision to switch to a matchup zone during the final minutes confused the visiting Panthers, causing them to take bad shots down the stretch. While on the Redhawks’ side, they took care of business, made their free throws and came away with the win.

Wallkill was led by Alex Marshall with 22 and Desmond Lynch with 21. Both athletes played superbly, but with little contribution from teammates, their offense became stagnant. 

Liberty was led in scoring by Cameron Lawson with 19 points, but the story of the game was Liberty’s ability to get rebounds, and the Redhawks dominated. Justin Simon had several rebounds, creating second chances and put-backs on offense that kept Liberty ahead. Joe DiBartolo had a monster game on the boards, finishing with close to 20 rebounds to go along with his 17 points. 

   Liberty head coach Matt Robinson thought, “Our kids played well, that’s a good team we beat. Our game plan was to take away their 3-point shooting, and we did that with a lot of pressure, which they didn’t like, but it worked. We executed great, Joe played great, and he controlled the middle. It’s a big win for this program; they’re a double-A school. We’re 3 and 1 now and moving forward.”