Liberty County High School hosted Bradwell on Nov. 22 for a basketball rematch of games played just a week earlier. The results came out the same, though, with the Lady Tigers striking in the fourth quarter for a 43-35 win. The Liberty boys then beat the Bradwell boys, 63-42.
BI girls 43, LCHS girls 35
The Lady Panthers and Lady Tigers battled it out in another nail-biter, tying the game 11-11 at the end of the first quarter. From that point on, the teams traded shots and leads. The Bradwell girls clung to a 19-18 lead at the half. In the third quarter, Liberty’s Tia Fleming scored seven of her 13 game points to push up the Liberty girls 29-28.
But BI reclaimed the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lady Panthers 15-6 to nab the 43-35 win. Junior Lady Tigers’ Brianna Johnson and senior Jakaria Fleming led the Bradwell girls with 15 and 11 points, respectively.
“Once again, I was pleased to see that even when we were down, the girls never gave up,” Lady Tiger coach Faye Baker said after the game.
Senior Lady Tiger JaVaughna Claridy led in rebounds with nine. Fleming led the Lady Panthers with 14 rebounds in the game.
The Liberty girls are off until Dec. 2, when they play at Richmond Hill.
The Bradwell girls went on to play in a tournament Nov. 24-25 in Camden County. On Nov. 24, the Lady Tigers lost, 65-44, to Mandarin High School from Florida. Lady Tigers Johnson and Richardson led in scoring with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
On Tuesday, the Lady Tigers took on Savannah High. The girls forced the game into overtime but lost 52-50.
BI girls 11|8|9|15—43
LCHS girls 11|7|11|6—35
LCHS boys 63,
BI boys 42
A big push in the third quarter sealed the win for the Liberty Panthers in their quest for a second victory over Bradwell. Once again, the Liberty boys were led in points by Devion Mitchell, who dropped in 27 points. Panther Milik Wallace added 10 for Liberty.
The Panther boys held a 16-19 lead in the first quarter and stretched the lead before the half, outscoring the Tiger boys 13-5 and taking a 29-15 lead going into intermission.
The Panther boys dropped in 22 points in the third quarter. It was a lead the visiting Tigers could not chip away at.
Liberty is now 3-1 and will play at Richmond Hill on Dec. 2. The Tigers are 0-3 and play at Effingham County on Dec. 2.
Liberty: 16|13|22|12 — 63
Bradwell: 10|5|11|16 — 42