Basketball Preview: Liberty Lancers vs. Pine Creek Eagles
Liberty and the Eagles are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2018, but not for long. The Liberty Lancers will head out on the road to challenge the Pine Creek Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
Liberty scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Saturday. They enjoyed a cozy 66-50 victory over Cheyenne Mountain. Given Liberty's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 86th, while the Red-Tailed Hawks are ranked 241st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Liberty can attribute much of their success to Ava Dawes, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds, and Samira Gantt, who scored 18 points along with seven steals and five rebounds. Dawes has been hot recently, having posted two or more blocks the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Jacie Bunck, who scored 13 points.
Meanwhile, Pine Creek had already won ten in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 24.3 points), and they went ahead and made it 11 on Monday. They claimed a resounding 61-17 victory over Fountain-Fort Carson at home. Pine Creek has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matchups by 28 points or more this season.
Liberty's victory bumped their record up to 11-9. As for Pine Creek, they pushed their record up to 16-3 with that win, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season.
Liberty took a serious blow against the Eagles when the teams last played back in January, falling 72-44. Can Liberty avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
