Basketball Recap: Liberty Takes Down James River in a Playoff Battle

It's playoff time, and Liberty had no trouble coming through when it counted. They took down the James River Knights 71-55 on Friday. 71 seems to be a good number for the Minutemen as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.

Moriah Tate

Points

02/28/25 vs James River	19
02/27/25 vs Gretna	26
02/25/25 vs Patrick County	18
02/18/25 @ Amherst County	17

Liberty was led to victory by Shania Brown and Moriah Tate. Brown dropped a double-double with 24 points and 18 boards, while Tate dropped a double-double with 19 points and ten assists. Tate's big performance that evening made it four games in a row in which she has scored at least 17 points. Another player making a difference was Cierra St. John, who posted nine points and five assists.

They weren't the only ones working in the assist department: Liberty was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in December of 2024.

Liberty has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 11 of their last 12 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 22-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.5 points over those games. The loss snapped James River's winning streak at six games and leaves them with a 21-4 record.

Coming up, Liberty will challenge Ridgeview at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are headed into the matchup with plenty of momentum (Liberty has won seven straight at home, while Ridgeview won five straight on the road), something that'll have to change. As for James River, they will take on Central Wise at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday.