Hometown SportS Late run not enough in Liberty Lions’ loss

By Juan Cebreiros Correspondent

The Liberty Lions lost 62-57 in their quarterfinal playoff match against the California Grizzlies in the North Coast Section boys basketball playoffs at California High School. What Liberty coach Jon Heinz labeled as a possibly questionable traveling call late in the fourth quarter might have cost the Lions a come-from-behind victory. But the loss ends the Lions’ playoff run as they finish their season 22-6.

“We came out flat, our rotations were awful in our press, we were missing layups and we just didn’t play well,” Heinz said on the Lions’ loss on Feb. 17.

The Lions scored just eight points in the first quarter and found themselves in a 19-8 hole after the opening quarter that they spent the entirety of the game trying to dig themselves out of it. Senior Grizzly guards Damarcus Collins and Amari Gray were a thorn in Liberty’s side all game long as the guard pair combined for 42 points

Heinz said it was frustrating to even have to play their game against the Grizzlies on the road. California holds a 19-10 record on the season while the Lions finished 3.5 games better but still received a lower seed.

“We shouldn’t be playing out here today; we should be playing in Brentwood. We did what we should’ve to have this game at home. It’s just frustrating,” Heinz said.

Liberty did not shoot the ball well throughout the game with the team going through several minutes without making a shot in some instances.

“We missed layup after layup, so many of our shots went in-and-out and they just were not dropping,” Heinz said about his offense’s struggle to score during some parts of the game.

Despite all of that, the Lions managed to go on a run to end the half and cut the California lead from 11 to six points. However, coming out of the halftime break, the Lions’ offense went cold again. The Grizzlies stormed out in the second half, extending their lead to 15 points at one point. Heinz called a timeout with about three minutes to play in the third quarter, and it was the break the Lions needed to get back in the game.

Liberty went on a 10-2 run to end the quarter and cut to the lead to 47-40 entering the final quarter. The Lions had eight minutes to overcome a seven-point deficit to keep their playoff run alive.

The Lions defense had managed to tighten up for the first time all game and managed to string together consecutive stops as the team continued to crawl their way back in the game. With under three minutes remaining, Liberty had cut the lead to just two – 54-52. Looking to tie the game, junior guard Tano Montez caught a pass while cutting to the basket but the referees called traveling, which ultimately killed the momentum the Lions were riding during their comeback.

Montez was called for traveling in two other instances earlier in the game. “I think one of the three were legit travels,” Heinz said.