Liberty Basketball:Winter Break Begins

The first part of the school year is over for Liberty the final exams were finished. The first half of the Basketball season is almost complete. On Thursday, Liberty Tech Boys played vs. Manassas in the Larry Finch Tournament to end in a disturbing loss. Tarius Johnson b.k.a. T.J. led the way fighting and never quitting in spite the fact that Liberty was down big. The following day Murray State's Jewuan Long and other former Liberty Tech Basketball players visited the practice. The Crusaders needed to come together for their games in the rest of the Larry Finch Tournament in Memphis (Dec. 20& 22) and the Poplar Bluff Showdown in Poplar Bluff Mo. (Dec 27-29).

Tennessee Liberty Technology Magnet High School's Amazing win over Bolivar

The defending Tennessee state champions were not 100% going into last night's game. Last night (12/7) Liberty Tech's Kirby Tritt, a 6'8 center, and star point guard Ricky Williams were both sidelined with injuries. But the Crusaders could still look up with senior shooting guard # 23 Charles Holt and #34 Sophomore Tarius Johnson. Liberty @ Bolivar started out strong for Liberty with Cordaro Williams taking the place of Ricky Williams. Charles Holt got into the foul trouble early and the leader was benched. #40 Cordarius Greer hit big three's while Holt was out in the first half. Only a sophomore, Cordaro Williams was able to hit big shots. But turnovers and rookie plays by the sophomore got him a seat on the bench. Bolivar’s quick guards were able to get into the lane and hit 3's as well. The Crusaders were down 3 at the half and were looking for a come back. Freshmen point guard, #3 Kendall Anthony, was put into the game after Williams began forcing the action. Anthony sparked the Crusaders with smart plays and solid defense. In doing so, he added 7 points. The Crusaders missed Holt's ability to score as he sat with foul trouble. Tarius Johnson was not getting calls but found was to get to the line and score. Johnson had 14 points. The second half ended in the favor of Bolivar. Soon Bolivar’s perimeter was able to get shots in the paint and in the mid-range area. They began to again separate from Liberty. Their guard play began to show the soft spots in the Crusader defense. At the end of 3, Bolivar was up by nine. In the fourth quarter the Crusaders played with new life. They began charging back in the. Bolivar however still worked and kept the game close In the Fourth the battle for the win was left up to who was going to make the big plays. In the late stages of the game Bolivar made big shots to keep them in the game. And the defending champs were the defending champs. Anthony made a huge shot late in the game that brought them within one. Liberty got a stop on the other end and were up 66-64.Bolivar was fouled and was put on the line. They made both free throws and tied the game 66-66. The last possession had questionable calls. 7.8 seconds Liberty called timeout. After about 3 timeouts in a row by Bolivar, Liberty in bounded the ball. Charles Holt got the ball in the corner. A scramble in the corner led to a questionable call by the ref with 1.3 seconds on the clock. The call was jump ball. The possession arrow stayed with Liberty. The Crusaders in bounded the ball to Holt. Holt went up for a three to beat the buzzer. Liberty beat Bolivar 69-66 in regulation. Everyone cheered as the ball left Holt's hand and swiftly moved through the hoop. This was a tough win for the Liberty Technology Magnet High School Crusader Basketball team. This game showed that they are tough as well.

Arizona Wildcat Basketball Arizona v. Illnois.

Arizona Wildcats can be said to be a team with adversary. From losing crucial games against unranked-put solid Virginia and ranked Kansas. But inspite of the adversary, Arizona sees the light through it all. Jerryd Bayless, only a freshmen, is the unprecedented leader of this Arizona team. Bayless surges his team with his energy and defence. He has a cunning eye to score. In Arizona vs. Illinois game at the United Center, Arizona did what they had done all season. In the first half of the game, Illinois completely shutdown Jerryd Bayless. He had no points in the first 19:30 of the game. In the first half Arizona shot 36% from the field and 20% from the 3 point line. The Baylessness scored about 18 PPG in the previous game. Shaun Pruit had his way in the paint first off. Jordan Hill kept Arizona close to striking distance. Hill hit huge shots and made defensive plays to keep his team in the game.Brock and Frazier made amazing plays to add to the Illini lead. Mike Tisdale made three that made Illinois pull away in the first half. Suprisingly, Arizona found an answer. With 23 seconds left on the clock, Jerryd Bayless hit a big three to accomidate a run by the Wildcats.
In the second half, Arizona seemed yet again surged by Jerryd Bayless's energy. Nic Wise made tremindous plays to help with the come back. Wise improved his game tremindously for Arizona. Jordan Hill had 23 points and 14 rebounds to lead his team. Trenton Mechom and Brock looking for the win made three for the Illini. Chase Budinger also added 8 point and 3 assists. But the hero was unquestionably Jerryd Bayless. Bayless had 17 point in the second half including OT. The last play after a Jordan Hill put back to tie the game, the Illini brought the ball down and Frazier attemped a shot with seconds left Nic Wise block the shot attemp and thus the end o regulation to overtime.
In OT, Budinger scored a 2 pointer at 4:41. Arizona found a way to stop Pruit and the Illini guard play. In the end, it was Jerryd Bayless all day. The play of the game was Jerryd Bayless driving and rising up for a monster slam. Later, Bayless made major free throws for the Arizona win. Jerryd Bayless's game is pretty yet powerful. He is the leader of the team on the court.
Later, Bayless talks about all-star coach Lute Olson. "Coach Olson is a great coach," said Bayless "We're going to give him his privacy, and we're going to wish him the best of whatever is going on. We just have to move on without him." A mature move by the Freshmen point guard striving to bring his game back to amazing play.

Texas Longhorns Doin' Just Fine

Today the number 8 Texas Longhorns squared off against Kevin Love the number 2 ranked UCLA Bruins. Many thought with the loss of stud guard-forward Kevin Durant that Texas would lose its ability to win as well. But the Texas Longhorns are doin' just fine. They are getting along very well without Kevin Durant in their offense. They are stronger. Perhaps the difference maker is D.J. Augustine who posted 19 points in tonight's game. He improved his scoring as well as his "point guard vision" over the summer.
The game started out with UCLA on top and soon Texas gained the lead. At the half, Texas led by 12 points. The superior guard play of Texas got them up early. Mason was Mr. Hot Shot in the first half, but D.J Augustin was The Second Coming of Steve Nash throughout the entire game. In the second half, got UCLA back into the game. Damion James hit needed shot for Texas. Atchley also contributed to the Longhorn victory.They led at points during the game. D.J. Augustin had the most amazing night finishing in the lane, creating for his team as well as himself ,and also keeping poise in end-game situations. The game winner for Texas was sparked by the aggressiveness of D.J Augustin. He drove in and threw up a shot(or was it a pass) and Damion James, Augustin's other partner in rhyme followed it to be up by two. The Bruins went to the other end and got an open three point look, but missed. This is no doubt the biggest game all season so far for Texas.