EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
HUGOTON — After a rough road trip to Woodward, Okla., last week, the Lady Redskins ended a three-game skid by defeating Hugoton 65-46.
Shamari Lewis had a big night, scoring 20 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in the win.
The Lady Redskin defense forced the Lady Eagles into several early turnovers and converted those to points. Hugoton also struggled to shoot early, and by the end of the first quarter the Lady Redskins had a 16-5 lead.
But the Lady Eagles settled in and started to connect on shots in the second quarter led by freshman Amiley Lewis.
But Shamari Lewis kept pace for the Lady Redskins and was also helped with scores from Zoey Torres, Maliyah Mullens and Kamilah Delgado.
The two played even in the second quarter, and Liberal had a 36-24 halftime lead.
The lead hovered around 12 for most of the third quarter, but as the game progressed, the deep bench of the Lady Redskins started to take its toll on the nine Lady Eagles, and Liberal added two more points to the lead by the end of the period, 51-37.
Hugoton had a chance to narrow the Liberal lead at the free throw line, but the Lady Eagles went three of 16 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and 12 of 32 for the game.
Liberal coach Brandi Fowler was able to make substitutions in the fourth quarter when the lead grew beyond 20 points, and the Lady Redskins outscored Hugoton 14-9 in the final period to secure the 65-46 win.
Junior Shamari Lewis led all scorers with 20 points. Senior Torres had 13, and freshman Mullens and senior Delgado each had 12.
Freshman Amiley Lewis led Hugoton with 15, and Saedy Arredondo had 12.
“We are always glad to win,” Fowler said. “Having that 19-point cushion was good. We got some young players in. We still have some things to clean up. We felt we could have done a better job on the offensive boards in the first half. We were only getting one shot at the basket. And we can’t foul that many times and give another team that many free throws. That’s going to take us out of a lot of games.”
Liberal advanced to 3-3 on the season and will host 3-2 Great Bend Jan. 3.
