PURCHASE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME

Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

 NORTH LIBERTY – Throughout the regular season Liberty High was close.

Close to a big win. Close to an upset. Close to a breakthrough.

With its season on the line Liberty High was more than just close against Davenport North.

Freshman Madeline Casey hit three fourth-quarter three-pointers as Liberty High rallied past Davenport North 48-44 for the first postseason win in program history on Wednesday in a Class 5A, Region 7 quarterfinal.

“All season we talked about peaking at the right time and learning from games that we lost close and tonight that showed,” Liberty High coach Jamie Brandt said. “Even though we had kind of an iffy third quarter we didn’t completely let go like we have in the past and we turned a corner and played a really good fourth quarter.”

Liberty High (12-10) lost five games to ranked opponents this season either by single digits or in overtime.

There always seemed to be something that stopped the Lightning from getting over the hump.

Not on Wednesday.

Casey hit three three-pointers in a span of less than three minutes in the fourth quarter as Liberty High rallied from a five-point deficit.

“I’ve been struggling shooting the last few games but my coaches always tell me to keep shooting,” Casey said. “Coach always tells me ‘shooters shoot’ and they believe in me and all my teammates keep telling me to shoot so their support has really helped me.”

Junior Jasmine Barney had a team-high 20 points and nine rebounds as Liberty High snapped a four-game losing streak and advanced to the Region 7 semifinals.

Liberty High will face Southeast Polk (12-9) on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Pleasant Hill.

“Our record is only about .500 but beside the last couple of games when we hit a little funk we’ve been in every single game this year,” Brandt said. “That just gives us confidence going forward and getting the feeling of winning back always helps.”

Barney had 14 of her team-high 20 points in the first half as Liberty High took a 28-21 halftime lead.

The Lightning led by as many as 14 in the second quarter before a 10-3 Davenport North run to close the half.

The Wildcats continued that run in the third quarter, outscoring Liberty High 11-4 in the third quarter to tie the game at 32.

“That is a good team,” Brandt said of Davenport North. “They have a couple of really good freshman and I thought we dug in defensively and came out on top.”

Davenport North led 37-32 with 5:34 left when freshman Divine Bourrage hit a three-pointer.

Casey and the Lightning answered.

The freshman guard pulled Liberty High to within 37-35 with a three-pointer with 5:17 left.

“Once you see the ball go through the hoop it really helps,” Casey said. “That first one was the big one.”

Casey gave Liberty High the lead for good with her second triple of the quarter with 4:55 left and made it 41-37 with another triple with 2:44 remaining.

She finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range.

“She knows that she has the green light,” Brandt said. “Before every game I always tell her ‘shooters shoot’.  I don’t care how many you miss, shooters shoot. She knows that’s her job this year is when she’s open to let it fly and she hit some big ones tonight.”

Liberty High put the game away at the foul line going 7-of-8 from the stripe over the final 1:22.

Barney hit four free throws in that span to secure the win.

“I just feel like were playing more as team this game,” Barney said. “Our played defense, we stopped them from driving and our offense just flowed.”

Freshman Journey Houston had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Davenport North while Bourrage had 13 points and nine rebounds.

Davenport North                   11  10  11  12  –  48

Liberty High                            17  11   4   16  –  44

Liberty High (48) – Avery Gaudet 2-7 3-4 8, Libby Allen 0-2 0-2 0, Kinsley Robertson 0-1 0-0 0, Jasmine Barney 7-16 5-6 20, Kennedy Daugherty 0-2 0-0 0, Brynlee Slockett 1-7 0-0 3, Ava Meyer 2-7 0-0 5, Madeline Casey 4-7 0-0 12, Totals 16-49 8-12 48.

Davenport North (44) – Divine Bourrage 5-16 1-2 13, Aliza Ramos 0-0 2-7 2, Journey Houston 9-17 3-6 21, Maya Arnold 1-2 0-0 2, Kyra Taylor 1-10 4-4 6, Layla Muhammad 0-4 0-0 0, Damia Clark 0-4 0-0 0, Totals 16-53 10-19 44.

Three-point field goals – ICL 8-30 (Gaudet 1-4, Robertson 0-1, Allen 0-2, Barney 1-5, Daugherty 0-1, Slockett 1-5, Meyer 1-5, Casey 4-7), DN 2-15 (Bourrage 2-6, Houston 0-3, Taylor 0-1, Muhammad 0-2, Clark 0-3). Rebounds – ICL 36 (Meyer 11), DN 43 (Houston 10). Turnovers – ICL 13, DN 14. Total fouls – ICL 12, DN 15. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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