The Liberty Lancers will square off against the Lewis-Palmer Rangers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Liberty's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last eight matchups.
Liberty will bounce into Thursday's contest after beating Air Academy, who they had gone 0-4 against in their four prior meetings. Liberty took down Air Academy 64-48 on Tuesday. While the Lancers didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-15), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Liberty's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Cameron Cunningham, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and ten boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Akai Council, who posted 12 points and five assists.
Meanwhile, Lewis-Palmer was just a bucket shy of victory back in December of 2024 and fell 48-47 to Mesa Ridge. The Rangers were up 25-11 in the second quarter but couldn't hold on to the lead.
The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Jonas Miller and Bryce Riehl. Riehl had a great game and almost dropped a double-double on 23 points and nine steals. Meanwhile, Miller did his best for the losing side, putting up seven points along with six boards and five assists.
Liberty's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-1. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.7 points per game. As for Lewis-Palmer, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-6.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Liberty has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 32.7 boards per game. However, it's not like Lewis-Palmer struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.9 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Liberty came up short against Lewis-Palmer in their previous meeting back in January of 2022, falling 52-48. Can Liberty avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
