Liberty stifles Bishop Manogue, advances to championship game

RENO — Liberty girls basketball coach Rich Santigate threw several different defenses at Bishop Manogue on Thursday in an effort to slow the Miners’ 3-point shooters.

It was the Patriots’ normal zone defense that finally did the trick.

Liberty held the Miners scoreless for more than eight minutes in the second half and went on to a 43-33 victory in the semifinals of the Division I state tournament at Lawlor Events Center.

Kealy Brown had 14 of her game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter and added five rebounds and three steals for the Patriots (26-4), who advanced to the state final for the first time since 2011. They will face defending state champion Reno (29-1), a 55-52 winner over Centennial in the other semifinal, at 6:10 p.m. today.

Paris Strawther added 10 points and 12 rebounds for Liberty.

“We were trying some different things, gave them different looks, then we just went back to the basics,” Santigate said. “We forced them into some low-percentage shots at the end.”

Liberty trailed 25-18 with 6:45 remaining in the third but scored the final six points of the quarter. Brown then opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back 3-point plays for a 30-25 lead, and the Patriots never trailed again.

“I just think we wanted it so bad, and I don’t think we were going to let ourselves lose,” Brown said. “We knew we had to kick it up, and that’s what we did.”

Bishop Manogue (20-6), in the state tournament for the first time since 2005, broke its long second-half scoring drought on a 3-pointer by Katie Turner with 6:10 to play. Manogue closed to within 34-31 on another Turner 3 before the Patriots put the game away at the free-throw line.

Liberty went 9-for-14 in the final 2:21 and was 11-for-16 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. The Patriots made 18 of their 28 free throws overall, and Brown was 10-for-13, including 8 of 9 in the fourth quarter.

Brianna Holt had 12 points for the Miners, but was limited to one point in the second half and missed her final eight shots. Turner also finished with 12 points for Manogue, which hung around thanks to nine 3-pointers despite shooting 31 percent (11-for-36) from the field.

“We figured things out more in the second half,” Brown said. “We knew they were a good 3-point (shooting) team. We took that away.”

Liberty led 16-10 midway through the second quarter before the Miners closed the half on a 12-2 run. Turner hit a 3-pointer with 56 seconds on the clock, and the Patriots were called for a foul away from the ball, giving Manogue possession.

Hannah Santos knocked down a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the half, and after a Liberty turnover, Holt drained a 3 just before the buzzer to give the Miners a 22-18 lead.

“We’ve been very resilient all year,” Santigate said. “We had that little lapse there at the end of the first half that hurt us. But we’ve always been good coming out at halftime making adjustments, especially defensively.”

Reno 55, Centennial 52

For a little more than three quarters Thursday, Centennial played the part of David to Reno’s Goliath to perfection.

The Bulldogs, facing a huge mismatch in size, led the Huskies by five points and had all but neutralized Reno’s huge post players.

Centennial, though, ran out of artillery, and a last-second, potential game-tying shot teased the Bulldogs before falling away.

Reno finally found its inside game late and held off Centennial in the second semifinal.

The Bulldogs’ tallest player is listed at 5 feet 9 inches. The Huskies start 6-foot-4-inch post Mallory McGwire, 6-foot-1-inch post Morgan McGwire and 6-foot-1-inch forward Shalen Shaw.

“When you’ve got girls who are 5-7, 5-8 trying to defend girls who are 6-3, 6-4, you’re going to give up a few points, which is all we gave up,” Centennial coach Karen Weitz said. “I thought our post defense was great.”

Centennial ran, jumped, poked and dived its way to a 46-41 lead with 5:23 left. To that point, Centennial twins and reserve posts Ivana Ganeva and Ioana Ganeva had outscored the Huskies’ McGwire sisters.

But Reno finally opened up the inside, and each McGwire scored four points during a 10-0 run that put Reno ahead to stay.

Centennial rallied to tie the score 51-51 before Daranda Hinkey hit two free throws with 1:35 left to put Reno up 53-51.

Simone Barber hit one of two free throws with 54.1 seconds left to trim the lead to one, and Hinkey, who went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, hit two more with 13.8 seconds left.

Centennial’s Paige Barber launched a 3-pointer from the left corner just before the final buzzer. The shot hit the back and front of the rim before ricocheting away.

“We came up here to win, and they fought their hearts out,” Weitz said. “I always say when you come up to Reno, you’ve got to be 10 points better than the other team.”

Tramina Jordan led Centennial with 16 points, and Ivana Ganeva and Teirra Hicks each scored eight. The Bulldogs were outrebounded 47-15 but forced 32 turnovers.

Morgan McGwire had 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Mallory McGwire had 10 points and 14 rebounds for Reno. Alyson Rippingham scored 11.