EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
Liberal’s young squad put together a competitive first quarter against Hooker, Okla., Tuesday in The Big House, but once the Bulldogs hit their stride, Liberal started to fade and fell to 4-11 on the season after a 65-32 loss.
The Redskins took an early 6-2 lead with two shots from Adrian Moreno-Gonzalez and a basket from James Fieser.
Fieser added another basket with 3:20 to play in the first that gave the Redskins a 12-8 lead.
But Hooker put together a 9-0 run to take a 17-12 lead and never looked back.
Moreno-Gonzalez hit a buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter to cut the lead to 17-14, but Hooker outscored Liberal 20-7 in the second quarter, 13-6 in the third and 15-5 in the fourth.
Fieser led Liberal with 11 points. Jakyree Washington had eight.
“We started out really well and it led to a lot of good plays,” Liberal coach Brandt Rogers said. “One bad thing happens to one guy and he lets off the gas, and then next guy has something happen and lets off the gas and it goes from there. Hats off to Hooker, they are a defensively sound team. There’s a reason they rocked Hugoton by 30.”
Liberal is currently 12th out of 18 teams in the Class 6A West Division and travels to Great Bend Friday.
