Preview: Liberty Patriots vs. Mercer Island Islanders
Liberty is 8-2 against Mercer Island since January of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The Liberty Patriots will be playing at home against the Mercer Island Islanders at 7:15 p.m. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Washington (Liberty is ranked 62nd, while Mercer Island is ranked 38th).
Last Friday, Liberty came up short against Lake Washington and fell 63-52. Liberty has struggled against Lake Washington recently, as their match on Friday was their ninth consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the defeat, Liberty got a solid performance out of Ella Whitaker, who scored 23 points along with eight rebounds and two steals. Whitaker hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for seven straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Chelsea Irvine, who scored ten points along with five rebounds and four steals.
Meanwhile, Mercer Island was able to grind out a solid victory over Bellevue on Monday, taking the game 64-54. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Mercer Island.
Liberty has been struggling recently, as they've lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 11-7 record this season. As for Mercer Island, their victory bumped their record up to 11-6.
Liberty came up short against Mercer Island in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, falling 50-44. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mercer Island's Caitlin Monahan, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 13 rebounds. Now that Liberty knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
