Preview: Liberty Patriots vs. Centennial Golden Hawks
Liberty is 8-2 against the Golden Hawks since January of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Liberty Patriots will head out on the road to challenge the Centennial Golden Hawks at 6:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Liberty came tearing into Wednesday's matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 42.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They took their matchup on the road with ease, bagging a 69-35 victory over Stockdale. Liberty pushed the score to 45-23 by the end of the third, a deficit the Mustangs had little chance of recovering from.
Liberty's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Kaylee Batten, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten rebounds. Batten is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last six games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Faith Curry, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Centennial came tearing into Wednesday's contest with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 40.2 points) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past Highland 51-8 on the road. With Centennial ahead 33-5 at the half, the match was all but over already.
Liberty pushed their record up to 14-8 with that victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.2 points per game. As for Centennial, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season.
Liberty and the Golden Hawks were neck-and-neck in their previous meeting back in January, but the Patriots came up empty-handed after a 52-51 defeat. Can Liberty avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
