Liberty’s girls avoid tiebreaker, beat Foothill for Southeast League title

The pregame math was simple for Liberty girls basketball coach Rich Santigate.

A victory over Foothill Monday would lift his team to a Southeast League championship. A loss would give the Falcons the the edge for the league’s top playoff seed based on a tiebreaker.

Santigate discussed the numbers with his players before the game, and the Patriots responded with a 45-38 victory at Foothill. Kealy Brown had 13 points, 10 rebounds and four steals to lead the way, and teammate Paris Strawther added eight points and 10 boards.

Liberty (21-4, 9-0) will enter next week’s Sunrise Region tournament as the Southeast’s No. 1 seed.

“There was a lot of pressure coming in here,” Santigate said. “We’re on a 13-game winning streak, and we did not want to go to the tiebreaker. There was a lot riding on this game.”

The Falcons (20-6, 7-2) also appeared to understand the importance of the outcome, as they grabbed a quick 6-3 first-quarter lead with the help of a 3-pointer from Taylor Turney and three free throws from Kelsey McFarland.

“We got in some foul trouble in the first half,” said Santigate, who watched as Strawther picked up her third foul in the second quarter. “We had to go a little deeper into our bench. But we still played good defense, and that’s going to win games.”

Foothill’s advantage did not last long, as Nancy Caballero’s short-range, off-balance jumper gave the Patriots a 7-6 lead. They never looked back.

Liberty committed 14 first-half turnovers, allowing the Falcons to cut the Liberty lead to 23-21 just before halftime.

But Foothill got itself into foul trouble in the second half, and the Patriots took advantage. A 6-0 scoring run to start the fourth quarter gave Liberty a 35-25 lead with 5:52 remaining, and the Falcons were unable to answer.

An acrobatic layup by McFarland with 2:05 left gave Foothill momentary hope by cutting it to 41-36, but Strawther and Brown dominated both inside and outside the paint down the stretch to secure the win for the Falcons.

“They just don’t go as deep as we do,” Santigate said. “I think they got tired, and that got them into foul trouble.”

Kaily Kaimikaua helped Liberty with seven points, and teammate Aubre Fortner added six points and six rebounds.

McFarland led the Falcons with 16 points, six rebounds and three steals. Turney and Gabby Doxtator scored seven points apiece for Foothill.