Leesburg, Va. — Coming off a loss the night before, the Liberty High School boys basketball team looked to bounce back against the Woodgrove Wolverines in their second game of the inaugural LoCoSorts Tip-Off Tournament on December 6 at Loudoun County High School.
Liberty senior guard Derrick Brooks and junior guard Russell Morton combined for 26 points in a nail-biting win over Woodgrove, 49-47.
“I was not very happy about the loss last night,” Liberty head coach Pat Frazer said. “We talked about how wins and losses don’t define you; it’s about how you respond.”
[adrotate group=”5″]In their December 5 loss to Loudoun County, the Eagles settled for poor shots, scoring just 22 points on the night. In their win over Woodgrove, the Eagles were much more patient on offense pouring in 49.
“We needed to do what we were told if we want to play and if we want to win,” Frazer said.
With time winding down, trailing 47-46, Brooks dribbled the ball up court and attempted a pass to the center. His pass was deflected and flew high into the air, where Morton nearly jumped out of the gym to secure the ball. Then, with less than a minute to play, following a Liberty timeout, Brooks swung the inbound pass to Morton, who pulled up and drained the go-ahead three-pointer.
“Our mindset was to keep shooting the ball and keep working the ball around to all our players,” Morton said.
On the ensuing Woodgrove possession, the Wolverines missed a last-ditch three-point attempt as the Eagles held on to win the third-place game of the tip-off tournament.
“Our coach told us after the game last night to keep our heads up and not to worry about the loss,” Morton said.
The Liberty defense put together a tremendous effort, in order to stop the threat of Woodgrove senior center Brock Redman, who put up 20 points and 16 rebounds in the Wolverines’ loss to John Champe on December 5. Despite the additional attention, Redman managed to collect another double-double, earning him a spot on the All-Tournament team.
We talked about how wins and losses don’t define you; it’s about how you respond.
—Liberty head coach Pat Frazer
Frazer was satisfied with his team – especially senior forward Dakota Lindsay – holding Redman to just 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Liberty will look to use this momentum as their season warms up, while Woodgrove looks to bounce back when the Wolverines host Heritage on December 11 in a non-district matchup.
