Liberty High boys’ basketball didn’t let one bad quarter spoil their run at a perfection in Carroll County.
The Lions rebounded from a shaky second quarter, taking over down the stretch to rally past crosstown rival Century, 55-53, in a Carroll County Athletic League match Tuesday evening in Sykesville.
“Senior leadership,” Liberty coach Brian Tombs said, crediting his veteran class for keeping his team composed. “Just guys that continued to grind. They have been through this situation a lot and came up short. They didn’t want to come up short tonight. So they found ways [to make plays].”
After scoring just one point in the second quarter, the Lions trailed by double digits for much of the second half. The Lions stayed composed and got the deficit down to nine points at the end of the third quarter.
That’s when Liberty (11-2 overall, 6-0 CCAL) made its move. The Lions evened the game with a 9-0 run to start the quarter led by seniors Tyler Downs, Phil Sackett and Michael Tombs. Downs started the rally with a 3-point play.
Sackett scored on the next possession to get within five and then had an offensive rebound on the next trip down floor and found Tombs for an open 3-pointer to draw within 2.
Downs finished the surge with another drive to draw a foul and converted the free throws to tie the game at 40 with 5 minutes to play.
“The first thing we started talking about in this game was composure,” Tombs said. “We lost in the second quarter. We came back [from halftime] and took advantage of our matchups and stayed composed the rest of the game.”
Two minutes later, a pivotal stretch let the Lions seize control of the game. Tied at 43, the Lions fed Sackett the ball in the paint. The senior converted to give Liberty a 45-43 edge. On the next possession, senior Derek Goff was fouled on a drive and went to the line.
Goff hit the first free throw but missed the second. Sackett split a pair of Century defenders and grabbed the key rebound and laid it in to give the Lions a 48-43 lead.
Liberty never trailed again.
“That’s just what I do for us - whatever they need me to,” Sackett said. “We all started to come together and play as a team [in second half] which really helped us out in the long run.”
Century (8-4, 3-3 CCAL) made a brief run in the final minute but Liberty senior Camden Hodges came up with a key block to help secure the win.
“It started with our energy [after halftime],” Hodges said. “We needed to come out strong, to rebound the ball and get our offense going. We talked about composure in the locker room. We worked on composure and being where we needed to be on the defensive end.”
The Knights were led by senior Andrew Marcinko with 15 points, while junior Ben Chenoweth had 13 points.
Century coach George Wunder was encouraged by his team’s competitive play despite the outcome.
“Really encouraged by how we played tonight,” Wunder said. “I thought our guys did a great job defensively. Played with a lot of energy tonight. Came up a little short on a couple of their offensive boards. Just two or three possessions that we have in a close game that we have to be better on.”
Tombs was happy to see his team overcome a Century squad that has won the past five Carroll County Athletic League titles.
“That’s a measuring stick,” Tombs said. “Century under coach Wunder has been dominant. They are the epitome of stability and execution in what they do. Being able to pull this out [is big]. Regardless of records, or who is supposed to be the better team – it’s always going to be a battle.”
LIBERTY 55, CENTURY 53
Century: Andrew Marcinko 15, Ben Chenoweth 13, Ryan Matthews 9, Jake Winkles 7, Jackson Smith 5, Peyton Conrad 4. Totals 21 6-9 53.
Liberty: Michael Tombs 24, Tyler Downs 11, Phil Sackett 11, Camden Hodges 6, Cole Jernigan 2, Derek Goff 1. Totals 17 16-26 55.
Century 9 14 17 13—53
Liberty 16 1 14 24 – 55
