MCCOY’S BIG NIGHT LIFTS GARFIELD AHEAD

LIBERTY OH- Monday night basketball gave the region one of its biggest matchups of the season. Two teams that each took home district championships a season ago facing off once again. The Liberty Leopards came in with a record of (2-1) after cancelling a majority of their games to start the season due to illness. Meanwhile the Garfield Lady G-Men came in as hot as could be winning the first five games of their season without a loss. They also came in with a win streak of 12 consecutive regular season games dating back to last years road loss against Liberty in January.

Redemption for Garfield was on the line as they lost both games a season ago by small margins and they would not be denied the win this time around. A stellar defensive performance combined with a great shooting night from Laura McCoy would drive Garfield to a dominant victory. This game was only in question once as the Leopards and G-Men battled hard in the first quarter of Monday nights game. A quarter in which Liberty led by three when it was all said and done. But that would be the last anyone saw of the Leopards offensive attack as over the next two quarters they were able to put together just eight-points while the G-Men put up an outstanding 27-points in the same time period.

Liberty finally got some momentum in the fourth, but McCoy would put an end to a late run by the Leopards to win the game 52-33. Garfield picks up their sixth win of the season and put an end to Liberty’s 14-game home win streak that dated back to February of 2021. Liberty moves back to .500 on the season as they are now (2-2) and will look to bounce back against Cleveland East Tech on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. ET. Garfield will travel out to Mogadore Field on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. ET game.

Liberty’s Demi Watson continued her legendary career as she put up 12-points in Monday’s game to move into 2nd all-time in scoring for girls’ basketball at Liberty High School. She has totaled 1043-points during her time and is now chasing only Shar’Da Williamson for 1st place who set the record back in the 2020 season.

*Contributed By YSN’s Alek Koberna