Liberty season ends, Discovery and Sparkman to play for title

Discovery center Gavin Lewis goes high to block a shot in County Tournament action against Monrovia
(MADISON RECORD PHOTO/LINDSAY VAUGHT)

HARVEST-  The basketball season for Liberty Middle School came to an end Tuesday night for both the girls and boys eighth grade teams. The girl’s team was crushed 48-3 by second seed Meridianville Middle.  Tara Pruitt had 10 points and dominated the boards for the Lady Eagles. Brooke Hampel led Meridianville with 15 points.

Liberty scored their first point of the game with 30 seconds left in the first half. By that time they trailed 23-0.

Liberty boy’s team did not fare much better as they fell to top seed Sparkman. Sparkman now will play Discovery Thursday night at 7:45 for the county championship.

Discovery had a close game with Monrovia but pulled away in the second half and won 40-29. The game was tied at 7 early and DMS led 10-9 after one quarter and extended the lead to 18-12 at halftime. Chase Fiddler hit a 3 point shot as the half ended.

The Panthers had no trouble breaking the press that Monrovia threw at them in the final two quarters and outscored Monrovia 22-17 in the second half.

Discovery was led by Demontrez Brown with 12 and Chase Fiddler with 10. Point guard Jalen Brackett scored nine.

Center Gavin Lewis scored 4 and controlled the boards. He blocked several shots and had some steals that started the fast break. He will be a key against Sparkman.

“They are read physical and have good ball players up and down the court,” Discovery head coach Brad Jefferson said after the game. “They have a good press so if we can beat the press we can hang with them. The mismatch is our big men. We can beat them on the boards.”

“They are real athletic so we will have to run the court and break the press,” Jefferson said. The teams split their two regular season meetings with each winning on their home court.

Discovery is trying to repeat as county champions after winning the tournament last year.