TAC VS. TCL Liberty's adjustments pay off in a 63-50 victory

A box-and-defense began to work in the secondhalf.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
LEETONIA -- The Liberty High girls basketball team used a balanced scoring attack and a tough half-court press to outscore Leetonia 20-10 in the third quarter and pull away for a 63-50 non-league victory Thursday.
"This was a total team effort," said Liberty coach John Hritz. "Our girls played a tremendous game against a tough Leetonia team on their home floor. We were patient, we worked the ball around and our half-court trap was tremendous."
Liberty started the game with a man-to-man defense, but midway through the first quarter switched to a box-and-one, with hopes of containing Leetonia standout Jessica Deville.
The strategy wasn't that effective in the first half, as Deville scored 18 of her game-high 27 points before halftime.
However, the plan started to pay off in the second half, as the Leopards were able to deny entry passes inside to Deville and hold the Division I signee to just nine points after halftime.
"Deville is a big-time player for them," Hritz said. "We made some adjustments at halftime and put [Chenelle] Mills on her, who is pretty athletic. We contained Deville in the second half and did a nice job overall on defense."
Defense led to baskets
Liberty was clearly the most athletic team on the floor and was able to use that to its advantage, especially with the press. Leetonia's guards struggled to break Liberty's trap, resulting in turnovers and easy baskets for the Leopards.
"We can break the press better than that," said Leetonia coach Jerry Beltempo. "We were worried more about the girls guarding us than getting the ball where it needed to go. In the second half, we just got tired and started making mistakes.
"Liberty was beating us to every rebound and loose ball," he added. "At certain points this year, we're just hitting a brick wall, and those times seem to be in the third quarter."
In the first half, each team went on big runs. Liberty went on a 10-0 surge to take a 15-12 lead early in the second quarter and when Lena Esmail connected on a field goal at the 2:30 mark the Leopards were ahead 22-12.
But the Bears orchestrated a comeback. Led by Deville, they outscored Liberty 13-4 to end the first half. An Allison Summers free throw made it to 24-23 with 54 seconds remaining.
Second-half lead
But Leetonia couldn't continue the momentum in the third quarter. Liberty's defense was too much for the Bears' inexperienced guards to handle. The Leopards started the third quarter with a 12-3 surge, building a 46-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
"Leetonia was having a hard time handling the ball and we took advantage of our quickness to get some steals and some layups," Hritz said. "These girls are very unselfish and were able to share the ball extremely well."
Leetonia's Amy McCluskey made three free throws with 4:37 remaining in the contest to cut Liberty's lead to 53-48.
But the Leopards held a 10-2 scoring advantage the remainder of the game.
Liberty put four players in double figures, led by Cherie Austin with 17 points. Esmail added 14, while Brittny Humphrey and Mills each chipped in with 13.
The Bears were led by Deville with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Mallory Valentine added nine points and McCluskey tallied seven.