BATTLE BORN: Energetic Patriots roll over Coral Academy
Liberty’s boys basketball team has lacked energy during several games this season.
That wasn’t a problem for the Patriots on Saturday.
Dyllan Robinson poured in a game-high 27 points to go with eight rebounds and three blocked shots, and Liberty clamped down defensively in the final three quarters to claim a 63-48 victory over Coral Academy in the Battle Born Classic at Durango.
“We played (Friday) night against Elko, which is a very solid team, and we lacked energy the whole game,” Berg said of the 58-50 loss. “As a coaching staff, we were wondering how the team was going to respond, and they responded well with energy defensively. And that’s what led to our easy buckets on the offensive end.”
Kyle Thaxton added 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for Liberty (6-11), which shot 52 percent from the field (28-for-54) to snap a two-game losing streak.
The Patriots led 48-42 at the end of the third quarter and held Coral Academy (8-7) to one field goal in the fourth to pull away. Robinson had eight points in the quarter, including a big dunk after Damahny Whittle’s steal with two minutes to play, as Liberty spread out the Falcons and consistently attacked the rim.
“He’s tough to stop,” Berg said. “He’s a slashing-style of a player, so he wants to get to that basket. And he’s very athletic, so he can finish around the rim.”
Isaiah Spears led Coral Academy with 19 points and had four of his team’s six 3-pointers. Ryan Djino had 10 of his 17 points in the second half for the Falcons.
Coral Academy (8-7), which led by as many as nine points in the first quarter, made only seven of its 25 field-goal attempts in the second half and finished the game shooting 37 percent from the floor.
“Our defense is going to lead to our offense, so when we buckle down on the defensive end, then we get easy buckets, and that works well for our team,” Berg said. “We told them, ‘This is how you defend them,’ and good things happened for us.”
Liberty trailed 28-24 with three minutes remaining in the second quarter before closing the half on an 8-0 run. Whittle’s steal and bucket with 58 seconds left gave the Patriots a 32-28 halftime lead.
Thaxton’s layup in transition put the Patriots ahead 41-36 midway through the third, and Whittle’s 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in the quarter gave Liberty a six-point advantage heading into the fourth.
“I remember the first few possessions we kind of got careless with it in the second half and turned the ball over,” Berg said. “But when we get out and run, and if we can get some easy baskets and get a dunk or two going, that’s what really gets us going. All in all, it was a good team win from everybody involved. Everybody had energy, if the kids played or didn’t play.”
Wasatch Academy (Utah) 58, Durango 53 — Jeremie Portuondo had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Chase Ruiz finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in the host Trailblazers’ loss to the Tigers.
Demetrius Valdez added nine points and four assists, and Zyare Ruffin scored nine points for Durango.
“I’m proud of the guys. They fought,” Durango coach DeShawn Henry said. “It was a good game for us, a good test. Hopefully it will prepare us to battle in league.”
The teams were tied at 30 at halftime, and Durango trailed 42-38 before Wasatch Academy’s Koby McEwen made two 3-pointers in the final 1:15 of the third quarter to put the Tigers on top 48-38.
The Trailblazers trailed by double digits for most of the fourth quarter before a late surge. Jason Landman’s two free throws cut Wasatch Academy’s lead to 54-50, and a 3-pointer by Ruiz with 27 seconds brought Durango as close as 56-53.
But Josip Vrankic knocked down two free throws with 21.1 seconds left and then blocked Portuondo’s 3-point attempt with eight seconds remaining to preserve the lead.
McEwen, a Utah State signee, had a game-high 23 points. He scored 14 in the third quarter when the Tigers outscored Durango 18-8.
Jackson Rowe added 12 points for Wasatch Academy.
“We just needed to get some rebounds down the stretch,” Henry said. “If we get some stops and make some free throws and layups, we’re right in there.”
Centennial 67, Price (Calif.) 52 — Isaiah Banks had 12 of his team-high 16 points in the first half, and the Bulldogs used a fast start to knock off the Knights.
Roy Sparks made four 3-pointers and had 14 points, and Jake Hutchings also scored 14 for Centennial, which opened the game on a 24-4 run.
Troy Brown added 11 points for the Bulldogs.
Price cut Centennial’s lead to 47-39 late in the third quarter, but couldn’t get any closer. Hutchings grabbed Brown’s desperation, 35-foot heave under the basket and scored at the end of the third quarter to put the Bulldogs up by 10 points, and they opened the fourth quarter on a 12-3 run.
Hutchings found Alijah Henderson along the baseline for an easy basket and had the final six points during the scoring spurt that put Centennial on top 61-42.
Hutchings scored 10 points in the second half for Centennial.
Jace Bass had 17 points, and Freddy Reeves added 14 points for Price.
Foothill 62, Elko 54 — Jonny Rolle finished with 13 points, and the Falcons held off the Indians.
Jeron Bodin added 11 points for Foothill, which saw a 33-24 halftime lead whittled down to six points at the end of the third quarter.
Foothill’s T.J. Johnson scored all eight of his points in the second half, and teammate Dante Vincent had eight points, as nine players scored for the Falcons.
Eric Klekas had a game-high 22 points for Elko, and teammate Kyrin Allen added 16 points.
Legacy 57, Paramount (Calif.) 42 — Timothy Jeffries had 18 of his 19 points in the second half to lead the Longhorns to a win over the Pirates.
Kameron Delgadillo added 11 points, and Anthone Searcy scored 10 for Legacy, which outscored Paramount 36-19 in the final two quarters after trailing by two points at halftime.
The Longhorns went 13-for-17 from the free-throw line in the second half and shot 76.2 percent overall (16 of 21).
Jonathan Guzman led the Pirates with 16 points, and teammate Elijah Sherrills had 11 points.
Chaparral 56, Valley 45 — Ronnie Hicks and Samuel Porras each finished with 12 points to help the Cowboys top the Vikings.
Marc Silas had 11 points, and Richard Nelson scored 10 for Chaparral.
The Cowboys outscored Valley 31-18 in the middle quarters to take control.
Roell King led Valley with 15 points. Juan Magana added 14 points for the Vikings.