Rockridge (8-3) gets the upper hand early and holds back a charging Liberty Eagles team (9-4) by a score of 59-53. The Rockets started absolutely red hot in this contest, not missing a field goal until 6:24 left in the second quarter. Rockridge led wire-to-wire and were up by as many as 18, but Liberty closed the gap to just three points at 4:17 in the fourth quarter. This hotly-contested game was very physical, as evidenced by the 44 combined personal fouls. Both teams shot exceptionally well in the first half. Rockridge was 14-19 (74%) and Liberty was 10-19 (53%) in the first half. The second half was a desolate one, however, and each team couldn’t get much going for field goals. The teams were a combined 11-34 (32%) in the second half. The Rockets’ leading scorer was Nate Henry, who finished with 25 points on 8-15 shooting and 9-9 from the free throw line. Henry also led the team with eight rebounds. Jenson Whiteman had 16 points. Liberty’s Eagles were led by Breiton Klingele’s 18 points on 7-13 shooting. Landon Obert added 13 points of his own. Rockridge advances to the tournament semifinal Game 21 (tomorrow, 1:00pm) and will face Abingdon-Avon. Liberty will begin their quest for 5th place by playing in Game 19 (tomorrow, 9:00am) against Monmouth-Roseville. Box Score Liberty Info Rockridge Info Chris Derry December 27, 2019 |