The Liberty Blue Jays beat the Blue Springs Wildcats Friday night by the score of 60-45 but the game was much closer than the final score. After neither team could find the basket in the first 3 minutes of the game, the Jays' offense started clicking and they jumped out to a comfortable lead. However, the Wildcats didn't go away and cut the the Jays' lead to only 2 points by halftime.
Then again, in the 3rd quarter, the Blue Jays used a very solid defensive performance and good shooting to mount a 14 point lead only to see it diminish to 43-41 by early in the fourth. Fortunately, the Jays played their best basketball in the 4th quarter ending the game on a 17-4 run to finish with a 15 point win.
"We played our best basketball when we defended hard, got a great rebound, kicked it out to Marshon (Norfleet), and then finished with an easy layup. I thought Marshon did a good job of pushing the tempo. Jordan Lewis' three point basket when the score was 43-41 was huge. And Denton Koon's ability to shake off a rough start and finish with his career high was impressive," remarked assistant coach Phil Simpson.
Koon ended with 26 points, and Lewis had 14. Norfleet ended with 6 points but also added 11 rebounds and 7 assists.
The Jays move out of conference for 2 games next week, Grandview on Monday (at Cokely) and then at Park Hill South on Wednesday before finishing the week back in conference play vs Lee's Summit North at home on Friday.
The JV Jays outcame a slow start (down 13-2 to begin the game) and won the game by 8 points. "Our players regrouped at halftime, showed better intensity, and a will to win in the second half. We'll need to play more consistently over a 32 minute game to be successful next week," stated JV head coach Joe Price.
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