Liberty's luck continues against Garces
| Wednesday, Feb 18 2009 02:24 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:25 PM
Images
Garces players Chris Dixon, left, and Ryan Bush, right, surround Liberty's Sam Marcus as he tries to shoot over Dixon during Tuesday's matchup at Garces High.
Garces's Ryan Bush hustles around Liberty's guard Westin Hill during Tuesday's game at Garces High with a packed house watching the game.
Overflow was an understatement for the crowd, and showdown was an understatement for the game.
Neither disappointed.
Liberty hit one more big shot than host Garces on Tuesday, beating the Rams 73-70 on Westin Hill’s banked 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining.
“I have no words to describe how that felt,” said Hill, who hit plenty of other shots in scoring 23 points. “I dream about that type of stuff, but I couldn’t imagine it coming down to that. A lucky shot.”
The victory came in front of full stands and folks standing on the endlines, not to mention a line that wrapped around the building full of people Garces had to turn away. It gives the Patriots at least a share of the Southeast Yosemite League title with just a Thursday visit from 4-7 Foothill to go. It also gives Liberty (24-3, 10-1 SEYL) three victories over the Rams and almost surely the No. 1 seed in the Central Section Division II playoffs.
“Each game against Garces, we were the underdog,” said Calen Coleman, who scored 18 points with 10 rebounds. “... It’s the biggest time of our lives right now, and it doesn’t get much better than this.”
Hill banked in his 3 from the top of the key — and no, he admitted afterward, he didn’t call it — setting off a wild final few seconds. Garces (18-7, 9-2) called a timeout, and during it, a couple of celebrating Liberty players spilled a bottle of water on the court. Players, coaches and even fans rushed down to clean up the spill before a technical foul was called, and play resumed.
Garces’ Stephon Carter made it two-thirds of the way up the court but narrowly missed a running 3-pointer that would have tied it at the buzzer.
Carter finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Ryan Bush led Garces with 19 points, and Randall Jackson had 13.
“They had a nice banker 3 in there, but you know what, they did a much better job at executing the game than us,” Garces coach Gino Lacava said.
Garces jumped to a 23-12 lead with some hot shooting, but Liberty chipped away and trailed by five at the half. For the third straight meeting between the two, Garces led by at least seven points in the third quarter, but for the third straight time, the Patriots responded, tying the game on Sam Marcus’ jumper before the end of the third quarter.
“It took heart,” Coleman said. “It really did.”
Cody Darling, who had 11 of his 16 points in the fourth, twice hit 3-pointers to give Liberty a two-point lead in the fourth quarter, and he hit an athletic turnaround jumper for a 70-68 lead with 49 seconds left.
Carter, who had already answered Darling’s previous shot, was triple-teamed on the other end of the court, but he scored on a putback to tie the game with 19 ticks remaining.
That left time for one more heroic Liberty shot.
“Just to play in this game was quite something for the kids on both teams,” Liberty coach Andy Hicks said. “And for us to pull it out at the end, it’s unbelievable.”
