Liberty captures shot at World crown

CHAPEL HILL -- Liberty Middle maintained a solid lead throughout and cruised to a 33-21 win over Middle Tennessee Christian Middle in Thursday's semifinals of the World Tournament.

Patriot point Will Finch makes a move to get past Cougar defenders Thomas Park and R.J. Miller (24). (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

The victory pushes the Patriots' record to 9-2 and they'll play for the World title against tournament host Forrest Middle on Saturday night at 8:15.

Rhett Perryman led the Liberty scoring attack with 22 points, including 14 in the first half. Despite constant double teams, Seth Jarrell chipped in with nine points.

"We executed our offense pretty good after they started doubling down on our posts," Patriot coach Chad Spencer said. "We put in a couple new set plays and got some wide open looks with it."

Liberty point guard Will Finch did his job of distributing the ball to his trees down low even though he was matched up on talented Cougar guard Thomas Park all evening.

"Will Finch is not very big, but he has a huge heart," said Spencer of his seventh grader that was nursing a temperature at tip-off. "He stepped up and led us. He had his first two turnovers tonight that he's had in his last three games."

The Bedford County kids eased out to a 12-9 first-quarter lead before expanding their advantage to 20-13 at halftime and 25-17 entering the final frame.

A pair of baskets by Cougar post Clay McCarver in the final 5.9 seconds against the Liberty subs are all that prevented a shutout in the final quarter.

McCarver finished with nine and Park eight to pace Middle Tennessee Christian (6-4).

Despite the solid win, Spencer still knows his team is a work in progress after having to replace a large percentage of their productivity from a season ago with the departure of Emmanuel Andrews, Zack Hitchcock and Nathan Jefferies.

"We've got to get back to working on our full-court press. I've always had teams that can play 94 feet. There's times we can and times we can't. It's not because we can't do it. It's because we're not real deep when they boys on the perimeter get in foul trouble."

After taking a year off from the World to play in a state tournament, the Pats hope to bring home the banner but must take down a talented Rocket team that took this season's first matchup 46-43.

"Chapel Hill shoots the ball well from the perimeter and they do the fundamentals well," Spencer said. "They're going to crash the boards and block you out. It ought to be a pretty interesting ballgame. We're going to have to come in here and give it our best."

Lady Pat Riley Richardson (32) skies for a layup. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

MTC 34, Liberty 15 (G): Katie Shadowens tallied a pair of field goals and free throws in a third quarter that saw the Lady Cougars outscore the Lady Patriots 10-0.

Liberty struggled to find a constant flow on offense as Erin Reeves was the team's leading scorer with four points.

"The last two games we played with a lot of intensity. We got after it and wanted to prove a little something," Spencer said. "Tonight it felt like some of the girls were just glad we won the first game and were just out there playing. They weren't giving it their all. We couldn't get shots to fall and were making unforced turnovers."

Middle Tennessee Christian (13-1) carried leads of 7-5 and 16-9 at the end of the first two quarters, respectively.

The Lady Pats (3-6) face Forrest Middle for third place on Saturday at 4:30.

"We've just got to keep working. We've got to get some confidence," Spencer said.