Basketball Recap: Liberty Takes a Loss

Liberty was the 58-56 winner over Shepherd when they last played one another back in December of 2022, but their luck changed this time around. 2025 welcomed the Liberty Panthers with a 66-41 loss courtesy of the Shepherd Pirates on Friday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest loss the Panthers have suffered against the Pirates since January 5, 2021.

Shepherd's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Braydon Mettlen, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 13 boards. With that strong performance, Mettlen is now averaging an impressive 8 boards per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Brayden White, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 15 boards.

Liberty has been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last eight matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-14 record this season. As for Shepherd, their win was their first in the district, bumping their district record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 16-10.

Liberty and Shepherd could both be facing uphill battles in their next games considering their disadvantage in the MaxPreps Texas Rankings. Liberty (ranked 1041st) will meet Tarkington (ranked 314th) at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Shepherd (ranked 518th) will meet Hargrave (ranked 130th) at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.