Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – Following its first win of the girls’ basketball season on Tuesday, Liberty High spent 90 minutes watching film.

Victory had not come easy that night for the Lightning, which saw a 15-point halftime lead whittle to one at the final horn.

Fourth-year Liberty Coach Jaime Brandt hoped the extra film study might emphasize the finer points in protecting a lead.

That lesson paid immediate dividends.

“Definitely learned from it,” Brandt said after the Lightning defeated Waterloo East, 58-44, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball game Friday night at Liberty High School. “We haven’t been in situations where we have played with a lead very much and we are a real young team on top of that. But just decision-making down the stretch and knowing that if we do have the lead, we can use that clock.”

Friday’s triumph gave Liberty High (2-4, 2-2 MVC) back-to-back wins for the first time since it won four games in a row in December 2017, the program’s first season.

“It definitely boosts our confidence,” Liberty sophomore guard Avery Gaudet said. “It is something that we are not used to, but it is something that we need to work on, obviously. Something that we want to get used to. Working harder to try and get to that point to be a better team overall.”

Liberty High’s path to being a better team is marked by a substantial youth movement.

The Lightning graduated six seniors from last year’s team, which resulted in a roster of five juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen eager to contribute and improve in 2020-21.

“It’s fun,” Brandt said. “They are a really fun group and the youth, you can definitely tell at times. But we are only going to get better and that is what is exciting about it. They work hard, they have good attitudes, so it is good.”

Brandt praised the leadership that juniors Haley Napoli and Kinsley Robertson have displayed in practice, and has been impressed by the composure freshmen like Haley Schroeder and Brynlee Slockett have brought to the floor.

Against Waterloo East, Slockett drilled a pair of 3-point baskets that helped the Lightning build a 30-23 halftime lead, while Schroeder posted 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

“She is a tough kid, she is a good kid, she is a natural leader,” Brandt said of Schroeder. “I can’t say enough good things about her. You know that she will play as hard as she can every single possession and that gets her minutes.”

Liberty High sophomore point guard Keiko Ono-Fullard, who was among the team leaders in points, rebounds and assists as a freshman last season, led all scorers with 17 points, including 13 in a second half that helped the Lightning close the game with a 17-5 surge.

“Our ball movement was really good,” said Ono-Fullard, who leads the team in scoring at nearly 10 points per game this season. “My teammates allowed me to get open shots and open looks.”

While the roster is young, Liberty High is not void of varsity experience.

Ono-Fullard and fellow sophomores Gaudet and Ava Meyer, plus junior Haley Napoli, played in all 20 games last season.

Sophomore post player Kennedy Daugherty – who, along with Meyer, brings a height advantage that is essential to the team’s defense and rebounding – played in all but one game last year.

“It is good to see everyone stepping up and taking that leadership role,” Ono-Fullard said.

Gaudet’s improvement from last season was noticeable in that she was consistently able to get past defenders on her way to the rim, which resulted in a whopping ten made free throws.

She finished with 14 points, including five in the pivotal closing burst.

“Playing with a lead like that was definitely different for us,” Gaudet said. “It kind of showed us that when we are up, to kind of slow down and envision what we want to do instead of rushing and kind of doing stuff off impulse.”

Key’Lajaha Jefferson-Putman scored 14 points for Waterloo East (1-9, 0-6).

Liberty will shoot for its third win in a row when it visits Class 5A No. 3 Waterloo West on Tuesday.

Waterloo East           8  15 12  9   –  44

Liberty High             11 19  9  19  –  58

Waterloo East (44) – Jaelah Standford 2 2-2 7, Ellasa Horton 3 0-0 6, Key’Lajaha Jefferson-Putman 4 5-7 14, Denay Saffold 2 0-0 5, Brooklyn Love 2 2-2 7, Aaliyah Franklin 0 0-0 0, Sequioa Williams 1 1-2 3, Miah Norman 0 0-0 0, Janiya Labeaux 0 0-0 0, Natalie Hill 0 2-2 2, Jocelyn Foss 0 0-0 0, Totals 14 12-15 44.

Liberty High (58) – Ava Meyer 0 2-2 2, Kennedy Daugherty 1 2-2 4, Haley Schroeder 5 1-4 13, Avery Gaudet 2 10-16 14, Keiko Ono-Fullard 3 9-15 17, Haley Napoli 1 0-0 2, Brynlee Slockett 2 0-0 6, Sunny Yarnell 0 0-0 0, Kinsley Robertson 0 0-0 0, Bella Tafolla 0 0-0 0, Totals 14 24-39 58.

Three-point goals – Waterloo East 4 (Jefferson-Putman 1, Love 1, Saffold 1, Standford 1); Liberty 6 (Ono-Fullard 2, Schroeder 2, Slockett 2). Rebounds – Waterloo East 24 (Horton 5); Liberty 35 (Schroeder 11).

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