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Liberty unable to put away Southeast
By BOB ETTINGER
STRUTHERS
Liberty guard Delia Watson said it all, though she really didn’t have the words to say anything following the Leopards’ 63-55 loss to Southeast in a Division III district final Saturday at Struthers Fieldhouse.
“I’m speechless,” Watson said. “We had the game in our hands and it just fell right out. It’s sad.”
Liberty (15-11) led by as many as 10 with just more than three minutes remaining but surrendered a 20-2 run to close the game.
“There was a critical turnover there at the end, after that, our fate was pretty much sealed,” Liberty coach Deidre Watson said. “We talked about [learning how to win at this level] a lot.
“This is a bigger stage, a bigger crowd and there are more nerves. When Sharda [Williamson] fouled out at the end, our ballhandler was gone.
“Zionne [Newkirk] fouled out earlier. She may not be big on the scoreboard, but she controlled the paint. [Andrea Radcliff] was scoring big points for them inside and that hurt us a lot.”
Radcliff scored 12 points over the final 3:11 on her way to a game-high 24 for the Pirates. Halle Morehead and Rachel Neer each chipped in with 13 points for Southeast.
Delia Watson paced the Leopards with 14 points, Williamson and Nysa Gilchrist each tallied 13 while Sydney Duncan added eight.
“I never saw them not believe,” Southeast coach Craig Nettleton said of his players. “We’ve been in some tight games.
“I told them during one timeout that the thing [Liberty] didn’t realize was they were playing against us and we don’t go away. That was a reminder to the girls that that was the way we play.
“The girls do believe.”
Southeast took a 57-55 lead on Neer’s 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining. Radcliff scored the next six points as she connected on six consecutive free throws.
Liberty had fallen behind, 17-2, in the opening minutes of the contest, but closed the first quarter on a 7-0 spurt and had knotted the score, 26-26, just before the intermission.
The Leopards led by five, 43-38, to open the fourth.
“There were a lot of jitters,” Deidre Watson said. “I told them to calm down and play their game.
“There weren’t really any changes that we made,” she said. “We talked about composure. We can’t rust the flow of the game.
“They pressed us and we talked about that. We talked about it [Friday]. We were mentally ready for the game. Once we had that conversation, they were able to come back and play basketball the way we know how to play basketball.”
Radcliff was good on four straight free throws — she was 12 of 14 from the line — as the Pirates moved to within one, 43-42, with 6:21 to go.
Gilchrist spurred a 10-1 Liberty run with four points as the Leopards went up 10, 53-43, with 3:24 left.
“We put pressure on the ball and we were making shots,” Delia Watson said. “We weren’t turning the ball over.”
The Pirates (21-3) will play North Ridgeville in a regional semifinal Wednesday at Cuyahoga Falls High School.