There’s no quit in Frisco Liberty. Redhawks rally again to advance to Class 5A final
Every time Frisco Liberty battled back in its Class 5A state semifinal with College Station, the Redhawks just couldn’t hit a big shot to get ahead.
At least until the last 1:29 of regulation.
Lily Ziemkiewicz hit two threes, one at the end of regulation and one in overtime to help Liberty rally to down the Cougars, 44-41, in a thriller Thursday night at the Alamodome.
“We look at playing the percentage. We shoot poorly early so we figure we’re due late in the game. We’ve shot 34.4% on the year, not good, but they fill the tank on defense that gives them a chance,” Liberty coach Ross Reedy said. “They are a resilient group and it’s the reason we have some opportunities in late game situations.”
Liberty (30-11) improves to 3-0 in semifinal games. It will face SA Veterans Memorial Saturday at 3 p.m. The Redhawks were runner-up in 2016 and 2019.
“For 3 1/2 quarters, they were the better team,” Reedy said. “We were fortunate enough to make some big plays down the stretch. We were fortunate to go up against them in this setting and even more fortunate to get the win.”
Ziemkiewicz’s first big three with 1:29 left in the fourth quarter pulled the Redhawks to within three points at 38-35.
Two missed free throws by College Station (32-8) with 1:21 left opened the door for Maya Jain. The junior struggled from the 3-point arc much of the game, hitting only 2 of 11, but Jain buried one from the corner with 36 seconds left in the fourth to tie the game at 38.
Liberty never led in the game until Jazzy Owens-Barnett hit 1 of 2 free throws to open the scoring in overtime.
After an Aliyah Collins runner in the lane gave the Cougars a 40-39 lead with 1:37 left, both teams struggled.
Ziemkiewicz, who led all scorers with 16 points, came through with a clutch three with 13 seconds left to give the Redhawks a 42-40 lead, but College Station still had time.
“They packed the paint and made sure I couldn’t go where I wanted to,” Liberty sophomore guard and leading scorer Jazzy Owens-Barnett said. “Biggest thing for me is scoring, the Redhawks need a score. And to drive to the paint and kick it out to a shooter that can knock it down, is the coolest thing tonight, and to see Lily and Maya step up big time was really the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time.”
A big traveling call and a charge doomed the Cougars, but with 2.3 seconds left, a foul gave College Station life. Collins was only able to hit the front end of the 1 and 1 and Liberty was able to hold on.
It took Liberty and College Station a quarter to get going. A cascade of missed shots and miscues left the score at 5-2 College Station after one period.
But once the second quarter started so did the action and College Station looked nothing like a team that was making its first trip to the final four.
Liberty trailed 22-15 at the half, but opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run, helped by a Ziemkiewicz three to tie the game at 22. As cold as Jain was from three, Ziemkiewicz was just the opposite hitting 5 of 6.
A Ziemkiewicz 3-pointer at the 5:23 mark of the fourth quarter started a 6-1 run that left the Redhawks down 33-32, but each time, College Station would surge ahead again until the 1:29 mark.
Liberty’s previous three playoff wins have also been by single digits: 32-31 vs. Frisco Centennial in quarterfinals, 42-36 vs. Red Oak in the regional semifinal, and 48-43 in triple overtime versus Midlothian in the Region II final.
“What we lack in consistency in shooting, we make up in grit, desire and determination,” Reedy said. “These last two games have been indicative of that toughness. I won’t say we knew it was going to unfold that way, but we’ve been in those situations several times, so it’s not surprising that they stepped up in that moment.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 9:31 PM.