Liberty girls basketball defeats Coronado

Liberty girls basketball coach Billy Hemberger said he felt like the Patriots could have pulled away in the first half of their 63-49 win over Coronado on Monday night if not for too many self-inflicted mistakes.

Once the Patriots cut down on their errors, their pressure defense and offense helped them take control of the game.

Liberty went on a 12-0 run during a four-minute stretch in the third quarter, and junior guard Satsuki Bradley scored 10 of her team-high 21 points in the quarter to help the Patriots, ranked No. 3 in the Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, pull away for a road win over their Henderson rival.

“We want to play fast, but we want to play controlled,” Hemberger said. “Our guard did a really good job of dictating that tempo and dictating that pressure. You got to give props to Satsuki, she played phenomenal tonight.”

Daisha Peavy scored 15 points and Alofa Eteuini added 12 for the Patriots (9-6, 2-0 5A Southern League).

In the two team’s last meeting, Coronado (8-6, 2-2) eliminated Liberty in last season’s 5A Southern Region semifinals.

“We executed in the second half, that third quarter specifically, but our defense created offense,” Hemberger said. “We had some good looks — it looks great when you knock shots down — but we kind of mixed it up with attacking (the basket), with shooting and with cleaning up the boards with the putback.”

Coronado trailed 35-31 with 6:03 left in the third quarter but wouldn’t score for the next four minutes as Bradley scored eight points during the run as the Patriots pulled away.

“That’s the hard thing about us. It’s who is the one that’s going to lead us offensively,” Hemberger said. “Satsuki has taken on that role, but we play as a team.”

Once Liberty established its pressure defense, the Patriots held Coronado without a field goal in the final five minutes of the first quarter. A quick 7-0 run late in the first helped Liberty hold a 16-11 lead entering the second.

Liberty went on a scoring drought for more than four minutes in the second quarter, which helped Coronado tie the game at 20 on a Savannah Lopez 3-pointer with 2:43 left. Bradley scored six points in the final 2:23, and a 3-pointer from Eteuini at the buzzer gave the Patriots a 32-27 halftime lead.

Gabrielle Brooks paced Coronado with 13 points, while Lopez and Ella Creer each scored 10.

“We are battle-tested,” said Hemberger, who scheduled all out-of-state teams in the Patriots’ nonleague schedule. “It showed tonight playing a tough rivalry game on the road. Coronado puts up a lot of points, and we held them and executed pretty much exactly the way that we wanted to.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.