EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
The longer the game went between the Liberal Lady Redskins and the Emporia Lady Spartans, the better it got for Liberal.
After an early back-and-forth gave Emporia a 4-1 lead, the Lady Redskins finished the first quarter on an 8-1 run with a pair of free throws from Shamari Lewis, a three from Kylie Rhine and a basket and foul shot from Kamilah Delgado, and the Lady Redskins had a 9-5 lead.
Both teams shot better in the second quarter, but the Lady Redskins scored with shots from the field while Emporia struggled at the free throw line, and with only seconds remaining in the first half Liberal led 28-17. Lady Red coach Brandi Fowler took a time out and put Rhine back in the game after she sat with tow fouls, and the junior drained a three at the buzzer for a 31-17 lead.
Liberal continued the scoring run in the second half that reached 16-0 before the Lady Spartans scored, but by then Liberal had a 42-19 lead.
Liberal finished the period on a 13-2 run for a 55-21 lead.
Fowler was able to get playing time for all her players with the running clock fourth quarter, and the Lady Redskins coasted to the 60-25 win.
Lewis led Liberal with 12 points, and Delgado had 11.
Rhine hit three threes for nine points. Ten Lady Redskins scored in the win.
“We had a lot of depth and leaned on that in the third quarter,” Fowler said. “They got gassed, and we didn’t take our foot off the throttle. We started tight, but as it started to open up, and we started to run more.”
With the 2-0 start and a lot of new faces, Fowler said the team is starting to gel.
“We are coming together really well as a team,” she said. “We have good chemistry. They are sharing the ball and running the floor. They take responsibility if they miss someone or make a bad pass.”
Liberal (2-0) will face an early season test at 6 p.m. when Hays (3-0) comes to The Big House.
SHOT CLOCK
The first shot clock violation in school history came at 6:45 in the second quarter when the Lady Red defense held Hays without a shot for 35 seconds. The shot clock is new in high school this year.
