The Liberty Leopards lost to the Garfield G-Men back in February of 2023, but the Liberty Leopards didn't allow the Garfield G-Men the same satisfaction on Thursday. Liberty skirted past Garfield 33-30.
Despite the loss, Garfield saw an underclassman step up: Mandy Cardinal scored 17 points along with eight rebounds and two steals. That was a full 56.7% of Garfield's points, marking the fourth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Kaelyn Tasker was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with eight rebounds and three steals.
Liberty's victory ended a nine-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 3-14. As for Garfield, they dropped their record down to 3-12 with that loss, which was their third straight on the road.
Liberty will take on LaBrae at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. LaBrae presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Liberty in Ohio (LaBrae is ranked 296th, while Liberty is ranked 756th). As for Garfield, they will look to defend their home court on Monday against Newton Falls at 7:00 p.m. Newton Falls and Garfield are at an even 5-5 over their past ten head-to-heads.
