Basketball Recap: Evan Hilliard and Jaden Riley Secure Win for Liberty

There's no place like home for Liberty, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Thursday. They took down the Foothill Falcons 73-58 on Tuesday. That result was just more of the same for these two, as the Patriots also won the last time the pair played back in February of 2024.

Liberty was led to victory by Jaden Riley and Evan Hilliard. Riley posted 19 points, while Hilliard earned 13 points in addition to eight boards and three blocks. The dominant performance gave Hilliard a new career-high in blocks. Another player making a difference was Jalen Parker, who scored 11 points and six rebounds.

Liberty smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in eight consecutive contests.

Despite the loss, Foothill still got an impressive performance from Dejon Townsend, who went 10 of 16 en route to 20 points along with eight boards and three steals. Cordet Espinoza was another key player, putting up six points.

Liberty is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 11-10 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 74.3 points per game. As for Foothill, their defeat was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 10-16.

Liberty wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 64-50 victory against Desert Pines on the 5th. As for Foothill, they will face off against Centennial at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Centennial knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 16 contests -- so hopefully Foothill likes a good challenge.