KC Star All-Northland Team

The Kansas City Star has selected Maddie Mason and Jenna Turner to the All-Northland 2nd Team. Mason and Turner also earned All-Suburban Big 7 and All-District 16 honors this season. Mason also garnered Missouri Basketball Coaches Association All-State honors.

http://varsity.kansascity.com/custom/article&news_id=3766

Banquet Ends The 2009-2010 Season

The Liberty girls basketball team celebrated a great 2009-2010 season with their banquet on Monday night. The ceremony included a great dinner, player recognition and the comradarie of a group of girls that had a very successful season. All three teams at Liberty High School finished with a combined record of 42-16. C team finished 6-6, the JV was 14-3 and the Varsity was 22-7.

The night also was used to aknowledge Jack Smith and his dedication to the girls basketball program. Jack will be the recepient of the Greater Kansas City Basketball Coaches Association's Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday, April 8th.

A big thank you is sent out to everyone that helped make this banquet a huge success. Without your help the night would not have been as special.

Mason Named To MBCA All-State Team

Liberty junior, Maddie Mason, was named to the 2010 Missouri Basketball Coaches Association All-State team for Class 5. With the All-State honor, Mason also collected All-Suburban Big 7 and was named the District 16 Player of the Year. Three other players from the Suburban Big 7 were also named to the All-State team; Azia Washington and Cee Cee Burris from Blue Springs, and Lauren Dudenhoeffer from Lee's Summit North.

Sami Wynne Honored

Sami Wynne was honored last night by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), recieving the Champions of Character Award. The award is to honor student-athletes that meet the Five Core Values put forth by the NAIA; Integrity, Respect, Resposibility, Sportsmanship, and Servant Leadership.

Being the only senior on the team this season, Sami had to really take on a leadership role that no other member of the team had to worry about. This was an easy nomination from the coaches because of the way Sami displayed these five values everyday, on and off the court.

Along with Sami, Christian Brinser, also received this honor.

Schedule Loaded With State Finishers

This season's schedule for Liberty was littered with teams that finished in their respective state tournaments. In the Jay's Class 5 Liberty had three regular season games with teams that finished second and third in Missouri. Liberty went 3-0 during the regular season against Blue Springs (2nd) and Springfield Kickapoo (3rd). Liberty got a split on the season with O'Hara who took third place in Missouri's Class 4 Tournament. St. Thomas Aquinas, who beat Liberty in the Hy-Vee Shootout, took second place in Kansas' Class 5 Tournament. For the entire regular season Liberty played eight of their 25 games against teams that made it to at least the quarterfinals in their own state tournaments.

Liberty finished 22-7 on the season and won the Suburban Big 7 Conference with a record of 11-1. The Jays had juniors Maddie Mason and Jenna Turner both make All-Conference and All-District. They also had Honorable Mention All-Conference selections in senior Sami Wynne and junior Kelsey Goff.

Banquet Date Set

The Liberty Girls Basketball team will be having their end of the season banquet on Monday, March 29th at 6:30 p.m. The event will take place at LHS in the Cafeteria. The evening will be a wrap-up to a great season and a chance for the coaching staff to recognize and honor the girls.

Honors Coming In For Jays

Liberty juniors Maddie Mason and Jenna Turner have been named to both the Suburban Big 7 All-Conference Team and the All-District 16 Team. Along with Mason and Turner, junior Kelsey Goff was Honorable Mention All-Conference and All-District. Senior Sami Wynne was also named to the Honorable Mention All-Conference Team.

Big 7 All-Conference
Cee Cee Burris - Blue Springs
Lauren Dudenhoeffer - Lee's Summit North
Maddie Mason - Liberty
Tyonna Snow - Blue Springs
Jenna Turner - Liberty
Azia Washington - Blue Springs
Desiree Smith - Lee's Summit
Zakila Smith - Blue Springs South
Ashley Creason - Lee's Summit North
Abby Eagleburger - St. Joseph Central

Big 7 Honorable Mention
Kelsey Goff
Sami Wynne

Tough Schedule Pays Off

Liberty played the second toughest schedule in Missouri this year, all classes, and were still able to win 22 games. Only St. Joseph's Academy from St. Louis had a tougher schedule. Despite not playing with a full roster of players due to other conflicts, the Jays were able to not only win the Suburban Big 7 Conference (11-1) but also won the District and Sectional Championships. With only one senior on the team, Sami Wynne, Liberty will look to reload again for next season.

Liberty's Season Ends In Quarter Finals

Liberty had their season ended Saturday by Blue Springs in the Quarter Finals of the Class 5 State Tournament, 43-32. The game was a struggle for the Jays (22-7) from the start, as shots would not fall and turnovers never allowed them to get into any rhythm. Despite the struggle, Liberty led 15-12 midway through the second quarter, but Blue Springs was able to finish the half on a 7-0 run to take a four point lead into the break. The third quarter was not good for either team as both teams combined for nine total points, Blue Springs 5, Liberty 4. In the fourth quarter Blue Springs was able to push the lead to nine points and Liberty could never get any closer as the Wildcats did a good job of running time off the clock and having the Jays chase them all over the court. For the game Blue Springs outshot Liberty from the free throw line 28 to 6, and that was the difference in the game.

Jays PG Makes US Team

Liberty point guard Kaysie Clark recently was named a member of the Under 17 US World Cup Soccer Team. Clark was an All-State selection last year in soccer as a sophomore and has been working toward making this team for the past two years.

Clark has only played in 13 games this season for Liberty as she has been attending workouts and tryouts to become a member of the US National Team. Kaysie will leave on Saturday to travel to Costa Rica and help qualify the US Team into the World Cup that will take place this fall.

Despite only playing in 13 games this season, Clark was able to help the Jays in not only those games but in practice to help prepare her teammates. As much as the coaching staff wishes that Kaysie was here for all 28 games so far this season, the opportunity and honor of being selected to the World Cup Team is something that will not happen again.

Liberty Too Much For Chrisman

Liberty used another very solid defensive game to take William Chrisman out of any flow on the offensive end and secured a 50-35 win in the Sectional match-up. The Jays used great second and third quarters, outscoring the Bears 29-12, to put the game away. Liberty (22-6) will now square off against Blue Springs (25-3) again in the Quarter Final game played at the University of Central Missouri at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.