Liberty trailed the Bakersfield Lady Lions by two points with 15 seconds left in regulation. It looked as though the Lady Eagles might succumb to the slight deficit they held for most of the contest.
That’s when the Lady Eagles’ Jaci Mantel connected on a jumper to send the game into overtime.
Kamryn Gastineau opened up the extra period with a three-pointer for Liberty, and Destiney Johnson answered with a three of her own for Bakersfield. The teams quickly responded to one another’s buckets, but the Lady Lions missed their final shot at the buzzer. Tied at 52 all, the game was headed to a second overtime.
Mantel stepped to the free throw line early and sunk both shots, followed closely by two baskets underneath. Madison Berry was successful at the charity stripe, and the Lady Eagles soon had a 6-point lead.
Destiney Johnson drained a three to quickly reduce that lead for Liberty, 60-57, but it would be the last time the Lady Lions would score. Piper Francis was sent to the line twice and made her four free throws to conclude the contest, Liberty, 64, Bakersfield, 57.
“I thought we had a great effort,” said Bakersfield head coach Doyne Byrd. “We did a good job defensively. We got in a little foul trouble with a couple of our bigger players and struggled to overcome that. I thought both teams played very well and very hard.”
With the teams tied 8-8 after one quarter, Bakersfield led by two at the half, and pulled ahead by six to start the final quarter. But the home team did not give up, taking advantage of the Lady Lions’ loss of two post players due to fouls.
“That was like I thought it would be,” said Liberty head coach Matthew Orchard. “Bakersfield is a good team and they always do little things right. Coach Byrd does a nice job with them. I knew it was one where we would have to be scrappy, but it was good for us. It was good for our maturity to not play really well and to still do what we had to do and still win the basketball game.”
Destiney Johnson led all scorers with 21 points, and teammate Kasandra Watlington added 10 points off the bench. “Kasandra is a freshman who doesn’t play a lot of varsity,” said Coach Byrd, “but she had to tonight because of foul trouble. Those were her first extended varsity minutes. She really stepped up and I was really proud of her. “
Coach Byrd said his team, now 6-9, has struggled to finish close games all season, losing many by as little as 1-3 points. “We’re still young and we have a freshman point guard,” he said. “But if we keep getting better, we’ll end up being where we need to be by the end of the year.”
Leading scoring for the Lady Eagles was Madison Berry with 18 points, Piper Francis with 16, and Jaci Mantel with 12. “Our point guard Madison Berry stepped up and had a nice game, and Piper Francis and Jaci Mantel are always solid for us,” said Coach Orchard. “I had a couple of players off my bench score 8 or 10 also, and that’s what we have to have. We’ve been working on that all year, getting contributions off the bench. That was big for us, for sure.”
“I did feel like we hurt ourselves a lot with turnovers and little things we cannot do in the next few weeks leading up to districts, but I was proud of my kids, because they did what they had to do to win.”
The Lady Eagles move to 14-7 on the season.
Scoring for Liberty:
Marissa Berry, 8
Piper Francis, 16
Madison Berry, 18
Kamryn Gastineau, 8
Jaci Mantel, 12
Tayler Randolph, 2
Scoring for Bakersfield:
Makenzie Lester, 10
Destiny Johnson, 21
Jacelyn McCormack, 4
Leila Tefft, 8
Kasandra Watlington, 10
Syrena Carter, 4
