The Liberty Girls Varsity Basketball picked up a big and significant win last Friday, Feb. 7. The Liberty Girls hosted Cedar Rapids Jefferson at home for their senior night and grabbed the win, 63-44, to close out the night. 

The Bolts faced a lot of adversity throughout the game and had many reasons to quit early. However, the thought of quitting did not cross the mind of a single Liberty player the whole game. Going into the second quarter, the Bolts were down 3-7 to the Jefferson J-Hawks, but did not give into the pressure. Liberty rallied in points and defensive efforts and took the lead into halftime, 26-17. 

“As a team we played very well. We started off slow, but once our shots started we got into a good rhythm,” said Neshy Byrd, senior. 

A powerful combination of Liberty seniors helped pave the way to victory last Friday night. Seniors Isabel Smith, Sam McPherson, Erica Heisdorffer, and Byrd put together a combined amount of 35 points. Standout freshmen Daugherty Kennedy and Keiko Ono-Fullard both put up 8 points on the board, and Ono-Fullard snagged 7 rebounds as well. Haley Napoli, sophomore, also took a key role in the Bolt victory by scoring an impressive 12 points.

Top Performer

The top performer of the night was Byrd. Byrd put up a double-double, with 11 points and 10 rebounds.  With little play time throughout the whole season so far, Byrd definitely turned heads and impressed the gymnasium with her abilities.

“Rebounding played a big part and how I played. Being there to put shots back up boosted my confidence,” said Byrd.