FRESNO — It was never going to be easy for either Liberty or Tehachapi to win its first Central Section girls basketball title Friday night. So when the Patriots opened the second half on an 11-4 run, holding the Warriors scoreless for minutes at a time, and went up by a 14-point margin, it seemed almost too good to be true.
Indeed, Tehachapi had one last run left. Koree Rodden drained a stepback 3-pointer to close the third quarter, Riley Walden provided nine quick points early in the fourth and Kennedy Perkins added a 3 of her own to cut the lead to 52-49 with just under three minutes left.
"We expected it," Liberty coach Damarius Akins said. "We talked about it at halftime. All right, they're gonna go on the run, but we gotta do the withstanding, so we knew it was coming."
Liberty went back to doing what it did all night: plow into the paint with impunity. Faith Curry stripped Rodden to set up a close-range shot for teammate Kaylee Batten, then Curry got a hard-fought reverse layup to fall a few moments later. Despite some ugly free-throw shooting late (10-for-23 on the night), the Patriots withstood the Warriors' rally and clinched the Division II championship with a 58-51 win at Selland Arena.
"We worked our butts off all year for this reason right here," Akins said, "and we finally got it done."
Tehachapi got a game-high 22 points to go with eight rebounds from Walden, who helped kickstart the Warriors' offense early and gave them a chance late to save their season, even after Laura Lamonte (10 points), the team's leading scorer on the year, fouled out.
But Liberty won the battle inside, thanks to the efforts of forwards Curry (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Batten (13 points, five steals) and multi-sport standout Emma Fredrick (13 points, nine rebounds), a center.
"I think Tehachapi went small," Akins said. "They tried to play small ball with us, they tried to use their speed and their quickness to play. But our big girls are quick, our big girls can run, they got speed, and they can also bang in the post, be able to score down low."
Curry seized control of the game during a 10-point second quarter in which she led a 13-1 run for the Patriots.
"I didn't want to lose," she said. "I wanted to pull this win through for my team, and just kept them in the back of my mind the whole game."
The 6-foot junior, a transfer from Bakersfield High, was rewarded for choosing Liberty with a championship win.
"It's why I came to this school," she said. "It's a blessing that we got to work hard together, and pull a team win ... These girls are easy to jell with. They're likable, they work hard, and you can't beat that."
The Warriors had jumped out to an early 8-1 lead on a three-point play and a more conventional 3-pointer by Lamonte, but Liberty took advantage of 13 first-half turnovers, leading to 20 points, to creep back into the game. (Tehachapi finished with 22 turnovers on the night.) The Patriots kickstarted their offense when Fredrick and Anahy Pimentel connected once each from deep to cut the deficit right away.
"I knew they were competitive," Pimentel said. "I've known some of the girls before and played with them on a club team, so I knew it was a good matchup, but we were ready to go."
Riley Walden scored all nine of Tehachapi’s remaining points in the first quarter, including a floater with six seconds left, but Liberty trailed just 17-14 to end the first quarter, putting the Patriots within striking distance in time for Curry's second-quarter success.
Tehachapi suffered its first loss since Dec. 30, falling to 26-2 after a memorable regular season. Liberty moved to 20-7 with an opportunity to make its mark in the state playoffs beginning Tuesday.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
