Liberty County hosted Thomson on Saturday afternoon for Region 3-AAAA basketball games. The Lady Bulldogs edged out the Lady Panthers 55-43. The Liberty boys won the follow-up game 100-53.
The Lady Bulldogs ran up the score off the sharp-shooting skills of Rakylan Welker. The shooting guard knocked in five three-pointers for the visiting team and ended the night with 23 points. The Lady Bulldogs also sank treys from Jazmin Howard and Karh Moss.
The Lady Panthers slowed Welker’s shooting by matching her up against Navia Telfair. Matching speed for speed, Telfair kept the sharp-shooter well-guarded and kept the ball out of her hands for most of the final quarter.
Liberty’s Tia Fleming dropped 12 points to lead the home team. Jasmine Brooks opened her shooting with two back-to-back three pointers and finished with 11 points. Destiny Craig chipped in nine points, and Kiara Edwards added two.
The Lady Panthers missed key free throws in the final quarter, going just 6 of 16. They were 9 of 26 overall at the line.
Tuesday evening the Lady Panther lost at Richmond Hill 42-36. The full report from that game will be in Sunday's Coastal Courier. The Lady Panthers are 3-8 overall and 1-1 in region play.
In the boys game, the Panthers wasted no time in running up a 25-9 lead to close the first quarter.
Panther Davion Mitchell continued to display his ability of knocking the ball in from behind the arc, sinking nine treys in the game. Mitchell finished with 31 points and a fourth-quarter slam dunk.
Teammate Richard LeCounte scored 27 points, including a three-pointer, and Martial Washington added 24 to round out the double-digit scorers.
The Bulldogs couldn’t adjust to Liberty’s run-and-gun style. The visiting team also didn’t have the speed to keep up with the Panthers after a breakaway steal.
Mitchell has scored 280 total points to date this season and surpassed 1,000 points for his career Jan. 5. Sophomore guard Will Richardson has scored 158 points to date, and LeCounte has 168 points in eight games played since he finished football season.
Tuesday night, in dramatic fashion, the Liberty boys edged out a 45-41 win at Richmond Hill. The full report on the fourth quarter rally by the Panther boys will be in Sunday's Coastal Courier. The Liberty boys are 13-1 overall and 2-0 in the region.
Friday, the teams will play at Windsor Forest in region contests that begin with the girls’ game at 6 p.m. They continue region play Saturday at New Hampstead. The girls tip off first at 4:30 p.m.