High School Basketball: Lions and Cavaliers Split Doubleheader

The girls captured their first win of the season in front of a home crowd over 60-58 in overtime.

The girls were the first game of a doubleheader which saw South Carroll win the boys game 67-47.

Between the games, Liberty honored former coach Steve Johnson. His family was on hand to receive a famed Liberty jersey and heard that new scoreboards next year in the gym will be in honor of him.

Johnson was a graduate of South Carroll and coached the Lions for 10 years. He passed away in October.

The girls basketball game went into overtime when Liberty’s Bianca Christian hit a basket with six seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Lions came out scored the first five points of the extra period.

South Carroll came back to tie the score at 56 on two baskets by Margaret Paynewith two minutes left. Liberty’s Kaelyn Storr and Kelly McCormick hit two foul shots each to seal the win.

"We got off to a slow start," said Liberty coach Jessica Morgan. "We always have a rivalry with South Carroll. It’s a good way to come out for our first win," she said.

"We have had a problem with turnovers lately. That was our big thing. I said if we kept our turnovers down. If we can continue to do this we are still in this game.  I was really glad with the way they pulled together. It was a complete team effort. That was what we were missing the last four games."

McCormick had 28 points for the Lions and Hailey Marlatt had 17. Also scoring for the victors was Christian with six, Storr with three and Haley Price, Sarah Johnston and Elisabeth Wise each had two.

Payne led the Cavaliers with 19 points, as she hit for four three-point field goals. Makeba Ndifang was also in double figures with 17. Rounding out the South Carroll scoring was Kristine Tennyson with eight, Emily Habighorst and Nicole Heim with five each, while Kimberly DeLonge and Paige Baxter had two each.

Liberty is 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the county, while South Carroll is 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the county.

In the boys game, Liberty jumped out to a 12-2 lead, but South Carroll came back to hold a 15-14 lead at the end of the first period.

The Cavaliers put the game away in the third quarter as they outscored the host 21-5.

"We had too many turnovers. They are a good defensive team. We got the ball up agains their press and just threw it away too many times. If we don’t have those turnovers it’s a different game," said Liberty coach Jay Seaborg.

South Carroll was led by Gavin McTavish with 23 points. John Quinn had 13 and Ryan tate 10 to also finish in double figures. Also scoring was Dan Mullen with eight, Tyler Alcid with six, Ethan McBryde had three and Stephen Walker and Logan Cook each had two.

"Today was an emotional day. They had the ceremony going on and the overtime game with the girls. There was a lot of emotion fired up. We were a little fired up. They were a little fired up. They came out hitting early, so that energy we had was playing against us. Because we were playing to fast," said Cavalier coach Doug Goff.

The Cavaliers improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the county. Liberty is 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the county.