LV PREP: Defense sparks Liberty boys to skid-busting victory

The start of the holiday break wasn’t kind to Liberty’s boys basketball team, which went 0-4 in the Foothill Holiday Classic, losing by a total of 20 points.

Things began to look up for the Patriots on Monday.

This time it was Liberty hanging on to win a close game, as downing Hazard (Ky.) 66-57 in the Las Vegas Prep Championship at Las Vegas High.

“We have limited experience on the varsity level, but we knew that going into the season,” Patriots coach Pat Welby said. “And that’s why we wanted to play as many games as we could to get experience. And even though we lost some tough ones last week, we learned from those situations.”

Welby credited defense with helping Liberty (3-7) pull away. The Patriots went to a full-court press with about 10 minutes remaining, and they forced 11 second-half turnovers.

“That really got us going,” Welby said. “From a defensive standpoint, we were able to force some turnovers and get some baskets out of that. We tell the guys it all starts with defense, and that’s what really helped us.”

Randy Tomlinson’s free throw with 8:07 to play broke a 40-40 tie and Liberty stayed ahead thereafter. Aaron Navitsky followed with a pair of baskets to make it 45-40.

Navitsky, limited early by foul trouble, scored 11 points in the final 8:04 and finished with 13 points and four rebounds.

“He’s our leader on both ends of the court,” Welby said. “He had a tough start, but he came on real strong in the second half. We’ll take that every night.”

Liberty used the Hazard turnovers to score easy buckets. The Patriots compiled 19 points off turnovers in the second half, in which they made 14 of 17 shots from the field.

Jeremy Lagasca added 12 points and Kai Nacua and Ty Byrd 11 each for the Patriots. That trio and post player post player Daniel Filimona have begun to be more productive after getting a late start because of the football team’s run to the state semifinals.

“They’re starting to get in basketball shape,” Welby said. “It takes about a month, really. And you can tell, because they don’t get gassed after 30 seconds. So that’s really helped, as well. And all of those guys are playing a big role.”

B.J. Combs led Hazard with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Las Vegas 75, Rio Rico (Ariz.) 63 — At Las Vegas, the Wildcats closed the game on an 8-0 run to pull away.

Travon Langston came off the bench to total 16 points, five rebounds and four assists in leading Las Vegas.

George Sanico added 15 points, and Juwan Major scored 11 for Las Vegas. Phil Dunigan had eight points, seven assists and two steals for the Wildcats.

Eddie Valencia led Rio Rico with 26 points.

Chaparral 51, Carson 43 — At Las Vegas, Aubrey Ferguson had 12 points to lead the Cowboys past the Senators.

Zach Kirschbaum and Kevin Morgan each added 10 points for Chaparral.

Carson’s Brian Barnes led all scorers with 19 points.

Sunrise Mountain 73, Banning (Calif.) 61 — At Valley, Ariel Baggett scored 19 of his game-high 29 points in the first half to help the Miners race past the Pilots.

Shmarlio Tolliver added 21 points, and Jalal Hall scored 10 for Sunrise Mountain.

Foothill 59, Clark 42 — At Las Vegas, Greg Cox had 14 points to lead the Falcons to a win over the Chargers.

Brannon Cresanto added 12 points — all in the second half — for Foothill.

DeAndre Henderson led Clark with 16 points, and teammate Tyler Watts scored 11.

Valley 93, Santee (Calif.) 54 — At Valley, Christian Kessee scored 27 points to lead the Vikings past the Falcons.

Angelo Coleman added 18 points for the Vikings, and teammates Caleb Carter supplied 16 points.

Jarrett Coleman had 10 points for Valley.

Domanique Cotton led Santee with 29 points.

Western 75, Spring Creek 40 — At Las Vegas, Ryan Johnson had 19 points, six steals and four assists as the Warriors routed the Spartans.

Kentrell Washington added 18 pints and five assists, and Aaron Buckley had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Western, which led 52-22 at the half.

Legacy 75, Cedarbridge (Bermuda) 33 — At Las Vegas, Donovan Gray had 12 points to help the Longhorns cruise to the win.

Chris Cook added 10 points for Legacy, which had 12 players in the scoring column.

Durango 66, Valley JV 51 — At Valley, Greg Gentry had 20 points to lead the Trailblazers past Valley’s junior varsity.

Tre’Von Wells added 12 points for Durango, and teammate Joel Feigler scored 10.

Eldorado 74, Las Vegas JV 31 — At Valley, Curtis Stewart had 19 points as the Sundevils routed Las Vegas High’s junior varsity.

Thomas Hooper added 14 points, and Donavin Wright and Markeith Floyd each scored 10 for Eldorado.

Palos Verdes (Calif.) 69, Desert Pines 40 — At Las Vegas, Al Bjekovic had 15 points to lead the Sea Kings past the Jaguars.

Joshua Velarde had 11 points for Desert Pines.

Desert Vista (Ariz.) 55, Del Sol 33 — At Valley, Danny Powell had 18 points to give the Thunder a win over the Dragons.

David Day added 11 points and James Johnson scored 10 for Del Sol.

Woodbridge (Calif.) 50, Bonanza 45 — At Valley, Ben Wylly and Jimmy Harrington each had nine points as the Warriors held off the Bengals.

Bonanza’s Matt Figgins led all scorers with 24 points.