Liberty survives overtime scare from Struthers

Senior guard Shawn Mealy scored the Leopards' last five points in overtime.
& lt;a href=mailto:kovach@vindy.com & gt;By JOHN KOVACH & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
STRUTHERS -- Although Liberty won the game, Struthers won the acclaim from both coaches after the undefeated Leopards escaped with a 75-72 victory in overtime over the Wildcats in a boys high school basketball game Monday at Struthers Field house.
"Struthers deserved to win. Their kids totally outplayed us the whole night on both ends of the floor. They had more heart and more intensity," said Liberty (6-0) coach Burt Stellers.
Struthers (1-5) coach John Corey was gratified by his team's performance.
"We took one of the best teams in the area into overtime and down to the buzzer," said Corey. "We played a great defensive game against a good offensive team."
Shawn Mealy, a 6-foot-3 senior guard-forward for Liberty, proved to be the difference in the outcome, while Dave Mathews, a 5-foot-10 junior guard for Struthers, was the difference in regulation, and emerged as the star of the game.
Mealy delivers in clutch
After Mathews' 3-point goal with 10 seconds left in regulation pulled Struthers into a 68-68 tie, Mealy scored Liberty's final five points in overtime to deliver the victory.
Mealy finished with a career-high 14 points, including 6-for-9 from the field.
"Shawn Mealy did a great job the whole night picking us up," said Stellers. "He gave us a nice offensive start [early in the game] and a good finish."
Mathews, meanwhile, wound up with a game-high 29 points with 9-for-14 from the field, including 6-for-9 from 3-point range, and 5-for-6 at the foul line. He had 11 points in the final quarter.
"He is a great shooter," said Corey of Mathews. "But he does the little things [well]. He is a special player. He read the screens well, and our guys got him open. We set a lot of screens for him."
Other standouts
DeShawn Crenshaw led Liberty with 16 points while Joel Marshall, in his second game back after missing two games with an eye infection, added 15, including the first goal in overtime that gave the Leopards a 70-68 push before Mealy took over the offense.
"Marshall had [his] 14 points in the second half," noted Stellers.
Marco Ramunno and Mike Duponty added 10 points each for Struthers, while Tim Zetts contributed nine.
The Wildcats' defense limited Liberty ace Bradley Fletcher, who had been averaging 21.2 points, to just six before he fouled out early in the fourth quarter.
"Bradley Fletcher didn't play real well," said Stellers.
And Corey believes he knows why.
"Our biggest key was we kept [Fletcher] in front of us. We would rather him shoot the jump shot instead of penetrating. He wasn't penetrating and he wasn't shooting well," said Corey.
Down the stretch
After Mathews' 3-point goal tied it at 68-68, Liberty missed a shot and Struthers got the ball back. But Zetts just missed a three-quarter-of-the-floor bomb at the buzzer.
Then in overtime, Alan Daniels scored all four of Struthers' overtime points on two goals to tie the score at 72-72, before Mealy made it 74-72.
Mathews missed a 3-point goal try with about 35 seconds left, then Mealy added foul shot with 29.2 seconds left, before Zetts and Ramunno missed open shots for Struthers.
"We had two good looks at the basket. Both were great shots. Their feet were set. We just missed [them]," said Corey.
Daniels finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
Joe Lopez added eight points and nine rebounds for Liberty, which had a 37-30 advantage on the boards.
& lt;a href=mailto:kovach@vindy.com & gt;kovach@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;