DIVISION I GIRLS: Patriots grateful for final after less-than-best effort
RENO — Liberty girls basketball coach Chad Kapanui was quick to point out his team didn’t play its best game Thursday.
The Patriots, however, put on one of their grittiest performances of the season.
Liberty tap-danced through a minefield of bad shots and turnovers to pull out a 59-53 win over Bishop Manogue in a Division I state semifinal at Lawlor Events Center.
Liberty (26-3) will face Centennial (30-1) in an attempt to win its first state title at 6:10 p.m. today at Lawlor. The Bulldogs rolled past Reno 82-53.
“We didn’t play close to our best game, but we found a way to win,” Kapanui said. “Our girls finished hard. We thought everything was going the wrong way, and we found a way to pull it out. I’m proud of the girls.”
Its usual inside-outside game hampered by poor perimeter shooting, Liberty instead used a solid effort on the glass, good free-throw shooting and an opportunistic defense to fend off the Northern Region champion Miners (21-2).
Trailing 25-24 at halftime, the Patriots used their one streak of hot shooting all night to start the third quarter on a 12-3 run and take the lead for good. Liberty was 5-for-8 during the run and grabbed offensive rebounds on all three misses.
Manogue pulled within 54-51 on two free throws by Malia Holt with 52.4 seconds to play, but Liberty’s Celine Quintino and Taylor Turney combined to go 5-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 41.9 seconds.
Turney finished with 21 points despite not making a field goal in the first half and finishing 5-for-18 from the field. The Patriots were 22-of-68 from the field (32.3 percent), including 2-for-17 on 3-pointers.
“Her shot wasn’t falling,” Kapanui said. “If it was, she probably would have had 30 or 40 points. She just finds ways to score.”
But Liberty won the rebounding battle 51-43 and got nine points and 11 rebounds from reserve guard London Pavlica.
“She’s been one of those players that comes off the bench and just gives us great minutes,” Kapanui said. “She’s always rebounding. She’s one of the two smallest players on our team, and she’s great at grabbing rebounds.”
Katie Turner led Manogue with 17 points. Malia Holt, saddled with foul trouble for most of the second half, finished with 15 points, and Madeline Camacho scored 11 for the Miners, who made just 20 of 58 from the field (34.5 percent) and had 23 turnovers.
Liberty will make its second straight state final appearance and third in school history. The task won’t be easy: Centennial is ranked No. 4 nationally by USA Today.
“We just have to play a better game,” Kapanui said. “We have to give our best effort. I know our girls have been waiting for this.”
Contact reporter Bartt Davis at bdavis@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5230.