On Friday, Liberty faced Durango in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Liberty Patriots walked away with a 72-59 victory over the Durango Trailblazers. The Patriots have seen this before: they got the W the last time they saw the Trailblazers, too.
Liberty's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Dante Steward led the charge by dropping a double-double on 15 points and 11 rebounds. Steward is on a roll when it comes to boards, as he's now pulled down nine or more in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Evan Hilliard, who went 7 for 11 en route to 14 points and five rebounds.
Patriots
| 01/17/25 vs Durango | 72-59 |
| 01/15/25 @ Spring Valley | 90-50 |
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 11 offensive boards in four consecutive contests.
Despite the loss, Durango still got an impressive performance from Emmanuel Peter, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 boards. Peter is becoming a predictor of Durango's success: when he posts at least eight rebounds the team is 7-3 (and 4-5 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Justin Morrow, who posted 11 points.
Liberty's record now sits at 8-9. As for Durango, they are on a four-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 11-8.
Liberty will head out on the road to challenge Silverado at 6:30 p.m. on January 24th. As for Durango, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Las Vegas at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Durango is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 61.4 points per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
