Liberty Falls To #5 Rock Bridge

Liberty fought hard for four quarters but their struggles from the free throw line doomed them in the end. The Jays (14-6, 6-1) lost at the #5 ranked team in Class 5, Columbia Rock Bridge, (17-2) on Saturday, 41-37. Liberty was only able to make 5 of 17 free throws in the game and those proved to be the difference in the final, as Rock Bridge made 17 of 20 free throws.

Rock Bridge has defeated Liberty twice this season in very close games, also beating the Jays in the semi-finals of the Unilever Tournament in Jefferson City, 41-36.

Liberty now gets a few days to rest and practice before they travel to their final road game of the year at the #3 team in Class 5, Blue Springs, on Thursday night. Liberty and Blue Springs are tied at the top of the Suburban Big 7.

Jays Send Out Thoughts To Coach Phillips At Kickapoo

The coaching staff at Liberty would like to send our thoughts to Coach Phillips at Kickapoo High School in Springfield, MO. Liberty played Kickapoo in the first game of the season. Coach Phillips is in an ongoing battle with cancer and has stepped down to fight the disease and spend time with family.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/2010100127040

Lady Jays Congratulate Coach McCabe

The Liberty Lady Jays program would like to congratulate Coach Chris McCabe on being hired as the new boy's basketball coach at Liberty North High School. Coach McCabe is a huge supporter of the program and we wish him the best of luck. Coach McCabe is currently a Varsity Assistant with the Liberty boy's program.

Jays Get Sweep At Hickman Mills

Liberty went to Hickman Mills on Tuesday night and got a Junior Varsity/Varsity sweep over the Cougars. Liberty's Varsity team improved to 13-5 on the season with a 46-33 win over the #3 ranked team in Class 4. The Jays will get back into Big 7 play on Thursday when they travel to Lee's Summit.

Jays Remain In State Rankings

At 12-5, Liberty dropped from #6 to #7 in the latest Class 5 Missouri Sportswriters Poll. Liberty begins a very busy week on Tuesday when they travel to Hickman Mills. Hickman Mills is ranked #3 in Class 4 with a record of 14-4. On Thursday the Jays will look to get a season sweep over Lee's Summit. The Jays defeated the Tigers 38-36 at home in December. On Saturday, Liberty will travel to Columbia to face-off against the #5 team in Class 5, Rock Bridge. Rock Bridge defeated Liberty 41-36 in the Unilever Tournament in Jefferson City over Christmas break.

Jays Take Care Of Jaguars

Liberty used a huge second quarter to pull away from Blue Springs South in the 5th place game at the Blue Valley North Tournament, 62-45. The Jays (12-5, 5-1) outscored South 24-10 in the second quarter to erase an early five point deficit and take a 13 point lead into the locker room at halftime. The second half saw Liberty able to get the ball inside and shoot 13/19 from the field to extend their lead to 23 points midway through the fourth quarter.

Liberty will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Hickman Mills for another tough non-conference matchup. This game was changed from February 10th because of a scheduling conflict on that date. Hickman Mills defeated Blue Valley North in the 3rd place game of the tournament.

Liberty Handles Metro Academy

Liberty advanced to the Consolation Championship by defeating Metro Acadmey 53-28. The Jays (11-5, 5-1) will now face fellow Suburban Big 7 foe Blue Springs South on Friday at 4:00 p.m. in the 5th place game of the Blue Valley North tournament.

Jays Fall In BVN Opener

Liberty faced a familiar foe in the first round of the Blue Valley North Tournament. The Jays lost to O'Hara in a very tight, back and forth game, 39-38. In the first meeting between these two teams this season Liberty was able to defeat O'Hara in double overtime down in Springfield. Liberty (10-5, 5-1) will now face-off against Metro Academy at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Metro lost to the host school Blue Valley North in the first round 40-25.

Jays Bounce Back

It took a half of basketball for Liberty's defense to kick in but in the Jays were able to pull away in the 3rd quarter from Ray-Pec and defeat the Panthers 69-45 on Saturday. Liberty (10-4, 5-1) led 39-31 at halftime, which was the most points the Jays scored in a half this season.

The win on Saturday followed up the first Big 7 loss of the year from Thursday night at Lee's Summit North, 34-31. Liberty will be back in action this week when they open the Blue Valey North Tournament on Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. against a familiar foe in O'Hara. Liberty defeated O'Hara 61-54 in double-overtime in the Kickapoo Classic.

Jays Set To Battle LSN

Liberty will take on Lee's Summit North tonight in another very tough road, Suburban Big 7 game. The Jays (9-3, 4-0) are coming off a 41-30 win over Blue Springs South Monday night and are looking to stay atop the Big 7 standings against the Bronchos (9-2, 3-1).

Liberty will to try to slow down the inside game of LSN's two post players, Ashley Creason (6'2")and Division I-bound Lauren Dudenhoeffer (6'0"-North Dakota State University). Along with fellow senior Codi Fritchie, these three plaeyrs account for 83% of the scoring for LSN.

After the LSN game Liberty will play their make-up game with Ray-Pec on Saturday, Jan. 16th at 12:30 p.m.

Jays Face Hot Blue Springs South Monday

Liberty will return to the court on Monday when they travel to Blue Springs to play at South. Both teams are coming into the game on winning streaks, with Liberty winning two in a row (Blue Springs and Lee's Summit West), while South has won three in a row (Ray Pec, Webster Groves, and Parkway South).

Liberty is currently 3-0 in Big Seven play while South is 1-2 in the Big Seven.

Weather Changes Jays Schedule

The Liberty basketball team will have some changes to their schedule due to the weather outside. Liberty's game at Ray-Pec tonight has been postponed until Saturday, Jan. 16th, when the JV will tip-off at 11:00 a.m. and the Varsity game will follow.

Liberty has also had to postpone their rematch with Columbia Rock Bridge from this Saturday, Jan. 9th until Saturday, Jan. 30th. Game times will remain the same, with JV tipping off at 1:00 p.m. and Varsity to follow.

The Jays will not practice Thursday or Friday this week and will look to get back into the gym Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon, as they are getting ready for another Suburban Big 7 game at Blue Springs South Monday night.

Jays Knock Off Blue Springs

Liberty used a great first quarter and held on to defeat Blue Springs at home 46-39. The Jays (8-3, 3-0) jumped out on the Wildcats early in the game and took a 16-5 lead at the end of the first quarter. Blue Springs fought back and cut the lead to 20-16 at halftime. Another good start to the third quarter gave the Jays some breathing room and they were able to hold on down the stretch to snap Blue Springs 36 game Suburban Big 7 winning streak.

Liberty will play again on Thursday when the travel to Ray-Pec for another Big 7 game following the Junior Varsity game.

Liberty's JV team also used a strong first quarter and then finished strong to defeat Blue Springs by 12 in the first game of the night.

Liberty Jumps Back In To Big 7 Play Monday

Liberty will get right back into Suburban Big 7 play on Monday night when they host the defending conference champions Blue Springs at 7:00 p.m. The game will follow the Junior Varsity game at 5:30 p.m. The Jays will then play another conference game on Thursday when they travel to Ray-Pec for games at 5:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Liberty is currently 2-0 in Big 7 play and 7-3 overall.