BRENTWOOD, Calif. - In the second game of Friday night’s rivalry doubleheader, the intensity only grew, in the packed gym at Heritage High School. Visiting Liberty, however, was able to quickly quiet down the Patriots’ home crowd, getting off to a fast start and then pulling away with a big second half to post a 52-31 victory and create a three-way tie for second place in the Bay Valley Athletic League.
Despite the Lions' fast start, which included a 12-2 run to start the game fueled by back-to-back three-pointers from senior Zach Moll, Heritage climbed back into the game and trailed by just two points on multiple occasions. The last of those occasions, however, occurred in the third quarter when the Patriots closed to within 28-26. From there, the Lions (11-11, 3-3) scored the final nine points of the quarter and only continued to pull away, outscoring Heritage 24-5 over the final 12 minutes of the game.
“The first half was a little rough for us as far as getting a little bit anxious and tight,” said Liberty assistant coach Mike Gregory, on a night where the Lions were missing head coach Jon Heinz due to illness. “We calmed down and came into the second half with a lot more fire.”
Liberty came out of halftime shooting, with sophomore Josh Clark coming off the bench for eight points early in the third quarter, including a pair of three-pointers from the left corner. The Lions were then able to pull away for good, with senior Kahli Custard scoring eight straight points, to pull the team ahead by 13 early in the fourth quarter.
“This win is very big. Last time we played them we were up 15, and they came back to beat us,” explained Liberty's Devean Hinton, who had a game-high 12 rebounds. “We took it to heart and came back to show them what we could do.”
Despite the fast start early for the Lions, the Patriots (9-13, 3-3) were right back in it by the end of the first quarter, thanks to a big three-pointer off of the backboard by junior guard Lamar Murphy.
The aggressiveness of both teams really showed in a very low scoring first half, demonstrated especially in a five-minute sequence in the second quarter, one that resulted in zero scoring and a combined 15 rebounds, including five each for Hinton and Heritage’s Mitch Herode. Heritage closed to within two points after the slow start, and the teams headed to halftime with Liberty leading just 18-14.
The loss to the Lions was the third straight in league play for Heritage, which won its first three league games, including the road victory at Liberty which was referenced by Hinton. Now, the Patriots could face an uphill battle as they look to avoid posting the program's first losing record in school history and also look to keep a 12-year playoff streak intact.
“Obviously we want to end strong and go 4-0 to finish out league and get a playoff seed," said Heritage senior Sebastian Duran, who led both teams in steals on Friday night. "We’re on a three-game losing streak and we want to snap it against Freedom on Tuesday.”
Liberty, which lost its first three games in league play, will look to extend its winning streak to four games at Deer Valley on Tuesday, as Heritage heads to Freedom on Tuesday.
The Lions fell to Deer Valley in their first meeting, and have a chance to chip into the Wolverines' three-game lead in the standings, after Deer Valley beat Antioch on Friday night to improve to 6-0 in league play and set its magic number at two to clinch the title. Heritage defeated Freedom in its first meeting, but the Falcons will also be riding some momentum after defeating Pittsburg in a thriller on Friday night.
