EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
The second quarter will be quickly forgotten after Thursday night’s 56-23 blowout win over Dodge City.
Liberal dominated against the struggling Lady Red Demons, but neither team had much lick in the second quarter. Liberal outscored Dodge 4-2 in the second and had a 22-10 lead at half.
But the Lady Redskins found their stride in the third quarter and began to pout in the points, and a 12-point lead at half quickly became a 20-plus lead. By the end of the quarter the lead had ballooned to 32 points, 51-19.
With a running clock in the fourth quarter, the Lady Redskins coasted to a 56-23 win.
Liberal coach Brandi Fowler took the opportunity to bring each senior out of the line-up one by one, and the Redskins fans gave them each a cheer of appreciation.
Fowler started her seniors, and the experienced line-up ran out to a 14-0 lead.
And the tenacious defense only allowed 10 points in the first half and 13 in the second.
“You want to honor the seniors and be competitive,” Fowler said. “We are blessed enough that no matter who is on the court, they know what to do. We had great defense, great pressure. We were proud of our defense all night long and on the glass.”
Shamari Lewis and Zoey Torres each had 12 points, and Maliyah Mullens had 11. Most of that came inside the paint.
“We are not a three point shooting team,” Fowler said. “We can make them, but it’s not what we are looking to do.”
The win gave the Lady Redskins a 14-6 regular season record and secured home court advantage for the first two rounds of the Class 6A playoffs. If Liberal can win both, they will qualify for the State Tournament.
