After 15 lead changes, top-seeded Liberty slipped past Raytown 59-51 on Saturday at the Niles Media Group Holiday Basketball Tournament at William Jewell. Liberty will face third-seeded Grandview at 7:30 p.m. Monday for the Cardinal Division title. <\/p>\n
Consolation bracket games <\/p>\n
Pleasant Hill 64, Smithville 58, OT: After trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, Pleasant Hill came back to edge Smithville in overtime in the first Cardinal Division consolation game. <\/p>\n
Pleasant Hill took a 47-46 lead midway through the fourth quarter and built up a three-point lead before Brock Mick hit a three-pointer to force overtime. Pleasant Hill went nine-for-11 from the free throw line in overtime to secure the victory. <\/p>\n
Derrick Spears led the Roosters with 20 points, and Cameron Haws added 17. Mick finished with a game-high 28 points for the Warriors. <\/p>\n
Truman 42, St. Pius X 40: Truman survived a late game comeback by St. Pius X to advance to the Cardinal Division fifth-place game. <\/p>\n
After taking the lead midway through the second quarter, Dewayne Thornton led the Patriots on a 10-0 run to close out the half. He scored all seven of his points in that span. <\/p>\n
The Warriors Ian Schneider hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to two points with 30 seconds left, and St. Pius X forced a turnover on the next possession but missed a pair of three-pointers to end the game. <\/p>\n
Liberty went on a 10-0 run to start the second quarter and built a nine-point lead, but Raytown hung around, trailing by just one point at the half. It took until the final minutes of the fourth quarter for Liberty to finally pull away. Liberty forced two turnovers and finished on a 9-0 run to seal the victory. <\/p>\n
Our defensive effort and focus and purpose on those possessions was better than the entire game put together, Liberty head coach Roger Stirtz said. We didnt knock down some shots we usually make, so I think we carried that over to the defensive end. <\/p>\n
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The rest is here:<\/p>\n
Liberty, Grandview, Blue Springs South, Park Hill South, Lee\u2019s Summit West, Ray-Pec notch wins at William Jewell tourney<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After 15 lead changes, top-seeded Liberty slipped past Raytown 59-51 on Saturday at the Niles Media Group Holiday Basketball Tournament at William Jewell. Continue reading