Basketball Game Preview: Liberty Hawks vs. Sierra Chieftains

Liberty hasn't had much luck against Sierra recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Liberty Hawks will head out on the road to face off against the Sierra Chieftains at 6:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Sierra will be up against a hot Liberty team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. Everything went Liberty's way against Fowler on Friday as Liberty made off with a 79-54 victory. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Hawks had established a 21 point advantage.

Mauro Farinelli

Points (Career)

02/07/25 vs Fowler	21
01/08/25 @ Washington Union	12
02/09/24 @ Caruthers	12
12/27/24 vs Firebaugh	11
12/07/24 vs McLane	9

Liberty's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Mauro Farinelli, who went 10 of 13 to rack up 21 points and eight rebounds, and Titus Johnson, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 11 boards. The dominant performance gave Farinelli a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Shane Williams, who posted seven points and five assists.

Liberty smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in four consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Sierra entered their tilt with Caruthers on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Blue Raiders 72-34.

Sierra pushed their record up to 19-7 with the win, which was their sixth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.8 points over those games. As for Liberty, their victory bumped their record up to 14-12.

Liberty suffered a grim 74-48 defeat to Sierra when the teams last played back in February of 2024. Thankfully for Liberty, Logan Kilbert (who had 30 points) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.