The Liberty Lions pushed their score all the way to 58 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 69-58 hit to the loss column at the hands of Sunnyslope. While losing is never fun, Liberty can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while Sunnyslope is ranked second).
Several Lions players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Ring Nyeri, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 14 rebounds. Nyeri hasn't dropped below 17 points for seven straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Jackson Hunter, who scored 18 points.
Liberty struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Sunnyslope got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was John Mattingly out in front who almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine assists. Another player making a difference was Darius Wabbington, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds.
This is the second loss in a row for Liberty and nudges their season record down to 15-11. As for Sunnyslope, they are on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 14 games, which provided a nice bump to their 18-6 record this season.
Liberty will be staying on the road on Wednesday to face off against Notre Dame Prep at 7:00 p.m. on February 14th. Notre Dame Prep knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past 16 contests -- so hopefully Liberty likes a good challenge. As for Sunnyslope, they will play host again and welcome Cienega, where tip off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Cienega will roll in looking for their ninth straight win, something Sunnyslope surely won't give up without a fight.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
