By Kent Coultas
Liberty forced 15 second half turnovers and pulled away to beat West Central 59-39 in the championship game of the Griggsville 1A Regional Feb. 25 in boys’ basketball.
The Cougars finished the season 22-11. Liberty, which was ranked fourth in the final Class 1A poll, improved to 27-5.
West Central had nine turnovers and trailed just three points at halftime.
Tyson Brown grabbed a rebound and scored and made a three-point basket, and the Cougars led 5-3 with 6:20 remaining in the first quarter. Payton Hartley made a three-point basket to give West Central a 10-9 lead with 1:59 remaining in the quarter.
Liberty scored a few moments later and led 11-10 after one quarter.
West Central trailed 18-13 in the second quarter before Hartley made two free throws, and Brown scored to cut the margin to 18-17 with 45 seconds remaining in the first half. Liberty led 20-17 at halftime.
Liberty opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 30-19. Brown scored, and Zack Evans made one of two free throws to cut the margin to 30-22.
Tysyn Mast scored, and the Cougars trailed 32-24 with 3:22 remaining in the third quarter. Liberty scored nine of the next 13 points and led 41-28 after three quarters.
Evans and Mast each made two free throws as West Central got within 41-32 with 6:32 remaining in the game. The Cougars, however, scored just two points over the next 4:51 as Liberty went on a 17-2 run.
The Cougars shot just 33 percent (13-for-40) from the field and finished with 24 turnovers. They made just 3 of 17 (18 percent) three-point attempts. Liberty shot 46 percent (24-for-52) from the field.
Mast scored 12 points and had five steals and four rebounds to lead West Central. Brown scored nine points. Evans scored seven points and had four rebounds.
Hartley scored five points. Dalton Hutton and Chance Little each scored three points. Jaydon Howard had 11 rebounds and blocked six shots.
