Liberty turns tide in third to beat Brookfield, 44-43

Denika Mosley helped the Leopards off the bench with a furious finish.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

LIBERTY — Midway through the third quarter of Thursday’s game, a Liberty High girls basketball fan shouted down from the bleachers, “Hey, score some points before Morgan gets back!”

The Leopards were trailing by five points, 31-26, and Brookfield’s best player, Morgan Bonekovic was on the bench in foul trouble. It took a few more minutes, but they took the fan’s hint.

Denika Mosley’s 3-pointer just before the third quarter buzzer cut Liberty’s deficit to one point entering the final eight minutes. Bonekovic returned for the fourth, but by then, the momentum had switched. The Leopards outscored the Warriors 10-8 in the fourth quarter, surviving a wild final few seconds in the process, to earn a 44-43 victory in a Trumbull Athletic Conference game.

“What can I say? I’m at a loss for words,” said Leopards coach John Hritz. “Brookfield is a great team and anytime you can beat them, it’s just awesome.

“I’m going to have a hard time sleeping tonight.”

Although the win qualified as an upset, it wasn’t necessarily a surprise. Liberty split the season series against Brookfield last season — it was the Warriors’ only league loss — and would have earned the sweep had the Leopards not blown a seven-point lead with two minutes go in the second contest. Hritz said he never has trouble motivating his girls to play Brookfield.

“I think they like the challenge,” said Hritz.

Added Mosley, “We were ready for this game all day. They’re a great team and we have a lot of respect for them, but we know when we play our best we can beat anyone.”

Mosley came off the bench to score eight points, including five in the fourth quarter. She made both 3s she attempted — she said she always tries to remember her dad’s advice to bend her knees and follow through — and added a pair of free throws with two minutes left.

“We bring her off the bench and she’s loose and relaxed,” Hritz said of Mosley. “We know she can shoot the 3. We just hope they sag [toward the basket] on her and they did.”

Senior forward Brittany Armour led the Leopards (9-4, 5-2) with 16 points and junior guard Melissa Dykes added 14 points, three assists and four steals.

But it almost wasn’t enough. After Dykes split a pair of free throws with a minute left to make it 44-41, Bonekovic hit a basket inside and Liberty’s Brianna Pettway missed a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left. Brookfield drove the ball down the court and Kelly Jones was fouled hard on a pass with three seconds left. Fortunately for Liberty, it had a foul to give.

Hritz had an inkling Brookfield would try a lob pass inside to the 6-foot Bonekovic, so he assigned 5-8 junior forward Chi-Chi Merriweather to guard Bonekovic, telling her to keep her arms up.

Merriweather got a piece of Meghan Reiser’s inbounds pass, the ball got loose and Brookfield wasn’t able to get off a shot.

“I don’t know if I did my job tonight,” said Brookfield coach Shawn Hammond, whose team is going through its busiest stretch of the season. “I don’t think I had the girls focused and that’s my fault.”

Bonekovic, who missed the entire third quarter after picking up her third foul late in the first half, led the Warriors (9-2, 5-1) with 14 points and five rebounds. Reiser added nine points and five rebounds.

“The kids played hard,” said Hammond. “I knew going in it was going to be tough. They [Liberty] always play us tough.”

scalzo@vindy.com