Fletcher's late shot helps lift Leopards

The Liberty senior drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to top Niles, 65-62.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
LIBERTY -- Bradley Fletcher was watching Liberty coach Burt Stellers draw up the final play of Friday's game against Niles with one thought going through his head.
"I just knew I wanted to take the shot," Fletcher said.
He didn't say it, of course. But as senior guard Joe Lopez stood on the sideline with 3.2 seconds left and the game tied at 62, Fletcher made sure to get open.
Lopez found him, Fletcher stepped two feet behind the 3-point line, faded back and ... swish.
Game over.
"Great players step up," Niles coach Ron Price said of Fletcher. "He stepped up."
The shot overshadowed a wild final minute, as Liberty committed two costly turnovers, but benefited from a controversial charging call on Niles senior Dan Jones to pull out a 65-62 victory in a non-league boys basketball game at Liberty High School.
Liberty's second turnover came with five seconds left, when Leopard senior DeShawn Crenshaw tried to find Fletcher on the right wing. Jones intercepted the ball, but was called for charging --infuriating Price while giving the Leopards a second chance.
They didn't waste it.
"We were real fortunate," Stellers said. "I thought Niles played a better game than us, to be blunt about it."
But the strong performance was little consolation for Price.
"We didn't come here to play a close game," Price said. "We came to win."
Strong performance
Fletcher finished with a game-high 25 points, along with six rebounds and four steals for the Leopards (3-0). It was the second game-winning shot of his career -- the other coming last season against Hubbard.
"It just feels great," Fletcher said. "We were able to keep our record alive. Niles played great all game and we feel very fortunate to get a win."
Lopez added 10 points and five steals for Liberty, which was playing without senior starter Joel Marshall, who was out with an eye injury. Crenshaw took his place in the lineup and finished with 16 points -- 14 in the first half -- and nine rebounds.
"Obviously, having Joel out changes things," Stellers said. "He's able to get off screens and get open and I think that hurt us against their zone."
Good effort
Jones finished with 16 points, seven assists and four rebounds for Niles (0-3), but missed two free throws with 28 seconds left that would have given the Red Dragons the lead.
Jones played much of the game in foul trouble, picking up his third with 2:21 left in the second quarter with the Red Dragons holding a 28-20 lead. In his absence, Liberty forced four turnovers in less than a minute, leading to six straight points.
The Leopards eventually took a 34-32 halftime lead.
"He's the guy we go to," Price said of Jones. "We rely on him an awful lot and we're used to having Jonesy out there. He's a great passer and he just makes everyone better.
"He's a good one."
Sophomore guard Andrew Cleary added 14 points for Niles, including four 3-pointers. Cleary made three straight 3-pointers midway through the second quarter as Niles took its biggest lead, 28-19, with 2:40 left.
Senior Kevin Robertson added 12 points and seven rebounds.
"We were really pleased with the effort," Price said. "Liberty is all-around a very good team -- they're one of the best teams in the area -- and I thought we were really competitive.
"I think we're becoming a good basketball team. We were real inexperienced at the beginning of the season, but now we've got a few games under our belt. We just have to keep giving a good effort."
scalzo@vindy.com