SUNRISE GIRLS: Delgado, Liberty sink Green Valley

Amanda Delgado took the court Friday with a league championship on her mind, and she didn’t intend to let anything stop her from reaching that goal.

Not her opponents, not fatigue and not severe leg cramps.

The junior guard logged 28 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lift Liberty to its first regional title with an 83-65 home victory over Green Valley in the Sunrise Region girls championship game.

The win gave the Patriots (25-4) a berth in the state tournament. They will travel to Reno to face the Northern Region runner-up Thursday at 3 p.m.

“Before the game, we had a team lunch,” said Delgado, whose 3-pointer from the left corner with 2:15 left sealed the victory. “I said, 'It’s our turn to be on top, and I’m going to do this.’ ”

She began fulfilling that promise early, scoring 10 points in a first quarter that she capped with a pair of free throws to give Liberty a 14-12 lead.

The Gators’ offense, which kept the score close with strong perimeter shooting in the opening minutes, could not get the ball inside. Turnovers and 28 percent first-half field-goal shooting took their toll, and the Patriots took advantage in the second quarter by opening with an 8-1 scoring burst.

It was the first of many such bursts for Liberty, which dominated the rest of the game.

“We know Green Valley can score in bunches,” Patriots coach Quintin Lester said. “We just tried to switch multiple defenses to keep them off balance.”

The plan worked to perfection. Emilia McKinney came off the bench to score eight quick points in the second quarter, and her long 2-point shot with 5:45 left in the half gave the Patriots a 25-15 lead. They extended that advantage to 39-27 by halftime, and they were just getting started.

The rout continued in the second half as Jade Washington stretched the lead to 57-38 with a driving layup late in the third.

The Gators (24-5) responded with a bigger defense and made a run midway through the fourth to cut the deficit to 74-60.

The game was stopped momentarily for Delgado, who rolled on the floor with leg cramps after an attempted rebound and left the game with 3:53 remaining. She re-entered a minute later, just in time to hit her back-breaking 3-pointer to make it 79-60 and erase any doubt about the game’s outcome.

Four players scored in double digits for Liberty, including Washington (16 points and seven assists).

Danielle Christenson led Green Valley with 21 points and five rebounds but was one of three Gators to foul out in the fourth quarter.