On to Sectionals for BlueJays

After claiming a District Championship against Kearney Friday night, it's on to Sectionals this Wednesday. Liberty will play Park Hill South at the Independence Events Center at 3:00. The Tribune's Chris Geinosky wrote the following article:

http://www.kccommunitynews.com/liberty-tribune-sports/27023149/detail.html#

BlueJays Win Battle Against Bears

The Liberty BlueJays started their post-season journey with an 86-54 win against William Chrisman. A good shooting night, solid defense, and balanced scoring aided the Jays. Five players posted double digit scoring led by Isaiah Norfleet with 18 points. Jordan Lewis had 13, Denton Koon and Austin Weese each had 11 and Max Francisco chipped in 10.

An on-line article written by the Tribune's Chris Geinosky is posted here:

http://www.kccommunitynews.com/liberty-tribune-sports/26973972/detail.html

Up next are the Kearney Bulldogs Friday night for the district championship at 8pm at Winnetonka HS. The Lady Jays face Kearney at 6pm.

Jays Win Battle vs Bulldogs

The Liberty BlueJays win their last regular season game against the Grandview Bulldogs Friday night by a score of 77-61. After a fairly even first quarter, the Jays were ahead 14-10, Liberty dominated the 2nd frame winning it 21-4. The lead for the Jays peaked at 29 midway through the 3rd quarter.

Leading scorers for the game were Denton Koon with 27, Isaiah Norfleet, 19, and Jordan Lewis with 15 points.

Up next for Liberty is District #15 play on Wednesday, Feb 23rd at Winnetonka. The opponent will be either North Kansas City or William Chrisman.

Jays Power Way to Win vs Ray-Pec

The Liberty BlueJays played a solid 4 quarters of basketball Tuesday night in their effort to defeat the Panthers of Ray-Pec. The Jays were victorious 69-57. Leading scorers for the game were Isaiah Norfleet with 14 points, Jordan Lewis, 14, Ben Hansen, 10, and Max Francisco and Denton Koon each finished with 9.

Overall, the Jays played with a lot of poise and toughness. Things didn't always go their way as the Panthers forced the BlueJays into a plethora turnovers but a hot shooting night overcame some adversity. The Jays made 65% of their shots in the 1st half and finished the game by converting 56% from the field.

"Besides passing the ball to them too many times, we had 17 assists on 22 field goals for the game," stated Coach Stirtz. "That's a very acceptable number of assists for a game. Overall, our staff was very pleased with how we played with great effort and pride. Austin Weese, Brandon Chapman, Francisco, Norfleet, and Koon really battled in the paint. Our guards played solid perimeter defense and that was a big factor in the outcome too."

The Jays close out the regular season this Friday night at Grandview.

Note: The video above is of Ben Hansen's remarkable 'And 1'.

Senior Night Article is On-line

You can read Chris Geinosky's story on Senior Night 2011 at the link listed below.


http://www.kccommunitynews.com/liberty-tribune-sports/26878667/detail.html

BlueJays Considered for Team of the Week

Today is the last day to vote on the survey on http://www.kmbc.com/ to see which of the four teams will be highlighted on the news this week. You can vote as often as possible. Here are the current standings:

Which team deserves to be in the Hy-Vee Hoops spotlight?

Votes
Percentage of 3,163 Votes
Liberty - Boys
1,169
37%
Truman - Girls
1,445
46%
Shawnee Mission South - Boys
268
8%
Wyandotte - Girls
281
9%

District Games are Announced

The Class 5, District 15 seeds were determined Saturday at the host school, Winnetonka. Earning the #1 seed was Winnetonka; #2, Liberty; #3, North Kansas City; #4, Kearney; #5, Fort Osage; #6, William Chrisman. The tournament dates are set for Monday, Feb. 21st, Wednesday, Feb 23rd, and Friday, Feb 25th.

Mon. Feb 21st: 5:30pm: North Kansas City vs William Chrisman

7:00pm: Kearney vs Fort Osage

Wed. Feb 23rd: 5:30pm: Liberty vs NKC/WC winner

7:00pm: Winnetonka vs Kearney/Fort Osage winner

Fri. Feb 25th: 8:00pm: Boy's Championship

Seniors Go Out in Style

The Liberty BlueJays, after a slow start, beat the St Joe Central Indians at Cokely Fieldhouse tonight 73-62 in front of another capacity crowd. The performance by the Jays was a little extra special because of Senior Night 2011.

"I thought our seniors played well. Their desire to succeed tonight was impressive to me. They took a lot of pride in making sure their last game at Cokely was a "W". Each senior had the opportunity to speak to the team about what this game meant to them. It was very inspiring and motivating and I think it showed on the court," remarked Coach Stirtz.

After a sluggish opening quarter, which concluding with the Jays down by 4 points and only scoring 10 points, Liberty bounced back with a 22 point second quarter. However, the defense allowed the Indians 20 points so the deficit was 2 at halftime. After being in early foul trouble, Jordan Lewis had a 9 point 2nd quarter and teamed with Isaiah Norfleet who had 10 points in the frame.

The third quarter belonged to the Jays who out-scored the St Joe 23-10. Eleven points in the quarter by Denton Koon was the big difference. "The big key to our 2nd half performance was our defense. We took some pride on stopping our man and being mid-line to help much better. Our defensive boards were key to enable us to get our transition offense going," stated Coach Simpson.

Overall, Norfleet led the Jays with 24 points, followed by Koon with 21 and Lewis with 18.

Up next are road trips to Ray-Pec on Tuesday and Grandview on Friday of next week.

Senior Night at Cokely

Tonight will be the last home game for our six outstanding Seniors. Derrick Johnson, Austin Weese, Jordan Lewis, Ben Hansen, Isaiah Norfleet and Denton Koon will tip off against St. Joe Central this evening. Another capacity crowd is expected so arrive early to get a great seat. In addition, the ceremony honoring our seniors will take place immediately after the Junior Varsity game is completed.

Go Jays!

District Tourney Information

The following schools will participate in the Class 5 District #15 boy's basketball tournament at Winnetonka HS: Winnetonka, Fort Osage, North Kansas City, William Chrisman, Kearney, and Liberty. The seed meeting will be this Saturday. Here are the dates and times of possible games:

Monday, Feb 21st: Seed #6 vs Seed #3 @ 5:30pm. Seed #5 vs Seed #4 @ 7:00pm

Wednesday, Feb 23rd: Semifinal upper bracket including Seed #1, @ 5:30. Semifinal lower bracket including Seed #2, @ 7:00

Friday, Feb 25th: Boy's Championship Game @ 8:00pm

Total bracket information can be located on the following website:

http://www.mshsaa.org/Activities/DistrictWinners.aspx?alg=5&class=5

Great Crowd Cheers Jays to Courtwarming Win

The Liberty BlueJays won their Courtwarming game over the Blue Springs Wildcats 65-49 Friday night. With a packed Cokely Fieldhouse and the Cokely Crazies in full force, it was a great atmosphere for high school basketball.

The Wildcats started the game off strong with a solid first half, especially a good first quarter. They had a one point edge after the first frame. Ben Hansen's 4 free-throws, Denton Koon's 5 points and Max Francisco's 4 points kept it close during the opening quarter. Then Jordan Lewis caught fire in the 2nd quarter. He scored 10 points and a Hansen deep 3 pointer helped the Jays edge in front 32-29 by halftime.

The second half was owned by Liberty who at times stretched their lead close to 20 points. Isaiah Norfleet did some damage to the Wildcats in the 2nd half by scoring 11 points.

In the end the Jays had 4 players in double figures: Lewis, 17 pts; Norfleet, 15 pts; Koon, 13 pts; and Hansen, 12 pts.

"The staff was very pleased with how we played in the 2nd half. We were very close to playing some good basketball in the first half too, but we just made some simple mistakes that Blue Springs capitalized on. We corrected those mistakes in the 2nd half. We were very pleased with how Austin Weese and Max Francisco guarded their post player. He's big, strong, and very active. We thought our guys played with a lot of intensity and that helped them win the battle," stated Coach Stirtz. "We would like to thank our great fans for coming out to Cokely to pack the Fieldhouse."

Up next for the Jays are their last two home games of the season. Liberty hosts Columbia Hickman on Wednesday and St Joe Central on Friday, which will be Senior Night.