Liberty hasn't had much luck against Gateway recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Liberty Chargers will take on the Gateway Panthers in a tournament on Monday. Liberty is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 68.9 points per game this season.
Liberty easily dispatched New Dimensions on Tuesday, but unfortunately both the margin and the ultimate result were a different story in this one. Liberty fell just short of Poinciana by a score of 52-50 on Wednesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Chargers have suffered since December 1, 2023.
Lamar Lee
| 01/08/25 vs Poinciana | 2 |
| 01/07/25 @ New Dimensions | 9 |
| 12/21/24 vs Lake Buena Vista | 4 |
| 12/17/24 vs Haines City | 7 |
| 12/13/24 @ Poinciana | 4 |
Despite their loss, Liberty saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Lamar Lee, who posted 12 points and five rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Lee has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last 35 times he's played. Another player making a difference was Tasir Best, who put up 13 points and seven rebounds.
Even though they lost, Liberty smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 15 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Gateway was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They took a 64-51 hit to the loss column at the hands of Eustis. While losing is never fun, Gateway can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 224th, while Eustis is ranked 87th).
Liberty's loss ended a seven-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 10-2. As for Gateway, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-7.
Liberty came out on top in a nail-biter against Gateway when the teams last played back in December of 2024, sneaking past 52-50. The rematch might be a little tougher for Liberty since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
