Liberty Tech: One Month Later

The Liberty Tech Crusaders and Lady Crusaders made an early exit in the first round of the region tournament on Feb.22 and Feb. 23. The Lady Crusaders took on Jasmine James and Bartlett on Friday. Jasmine James is arguably one of the best guards in Tennessee. The Lady Crusaders stayed with Bartlett and quickly realized teamwork and hard defense can over play a one woman show. Unseemly in the end Bartlett pulled away and sent the Liberty Lady Crusaders home. The next day, the Liberty Crusaders went off against Millington. This time the Crusaders were the favorites to win. The game was close upon exiting the first half. The Crusaders ,at the beginning of the second half, began doing what they did all year, the pulled away to a 10 point lead. Close to the end, Millington began fighting back with Steve Kerr,who finished with 19 points, on the attack. To accommodate the sharp shooter, Millington began pressuring. The press left a 3-point bucket open ever time down the floor and it seemed that almost ever time the Crusaders missed it. To Liberty Tech's displeasure, Tarius Johnson and Marlin Dotson both fouled out in the last minutes of the 4Th quarter. Johnson and Dotson are two key rebouders and scorers.The Trojans continued to pressure and rebound after a chronic 3-point miss by Liberty. Upon entering the game, many fans were displeased with decision to put the 6'8 center in after Dotson fouled out. However, to their surprise, Kirby Tritt drew an charge, offensive foul, at the late stages of the game. The play for Liberty was a missed 3-pointer by C.Williams, a missed 3 by C. Holt, rebound by Kirby Tritt, and a missed 3 by R. Williams. All of this in the last 20 seconds.+
Liberty Tech Crusaders
Today, the Crusaders must find ways to improve. This year the Crusaders will loose Charles Holt(SG),(Cordarius)Jay Greer(SG), and Kirby Tritt(C). This will leave it up to Ricky Williams(PG), (Tarius) TJ Johnson(SF/SG), and Cordaro (Cord) Williams(PG/SG) to assume role as the team leaders. Kendall Anthony(PG) did not see much of the court in his last game on Feb. 23 vs. Millington, but he will have to play a large amount of minutes for Liberty next season. Jauwon Cain(SG), Joevontae Arnold(SF/SG), and Ricky Parks(F) must step up as scorers and as defenders. Chris Johnson must improve his scoring in order to assume a position as a one of three senior leaders.

Shelter from the Storm

Last week, West Tennessee students were delighted to see snow which meant no school. On Tuesday February 5, 2008, students were again delighted of the weather, this time, 70 degree weather. This
Change in weather only means one thing, Tornado. When residents in Jackson, TN think of Tornado they think back to the disaster. There were destroyed churches, old buildings, homes, and schools. In fact, maybe if it weren’t for the infamous tornado, Liberty Tech may not have been needed.
Tuesday was almost like Déjà vu. In the 3rd period of classes, rumors about early dismissal escaped the news and spread throughout the classrooms of Liberty Tech. Many resorted to cell phones to find answers in text messages and phone calls from parents and other students. A Liberty Tech girls’ Basketball player received information about the highly anticipated district game versus Hardin County. With a win, Liberty Tech would gain the number one spot in their district. The Tornado Warnings caused the cancellation of the Liberty Tech/ Hardin Co. game.
At 1:00 all Jackson-Madison County schools were released and sent home under their own freedom. As students were boarding buses and their own vehicles, they saw sunny skies and slight sprinkling. As the day grew to night, raging storms grew as well. At the Union University
Campus a storm hit a part of its residency centers. Amazingly, their were no fatalities. The surrounding counties also were hit by storms. Hardin County found damage to Savanna Baptist Church and Savanna Christian Acad.
When light shined on West Tennessee, many more damages were found every building at Union University every building was damaged with an exception of the Sport facility. All of the damages would cost around $10 millions of dollars. Hardin County reported 3 fatalities.
To some, the “what if “moment was too much to ponder. Last night, Union University residents and others homeless from the storm were ported to Liberty Tech where they found shelter from the storm.

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.