Finally atop the mountain! Frisco Liberty beats Veterans Memorial for 5A state title
The slipper finally fits.
Frisco Liberty finally got over the hump in its third try in a state title game as the Redhawks ground out a 35-26 win over San Antonio Veterans Memorial in the Class 5A championship on Saturday at the Alamodome.
”Just coming through the season with a different mindset than last year,” said championship game MVP Jazzy Owens-Barnett, who was on the runner-up squad last season. “Once we started rolling we realized that, hey, we’re going to do this again, but we’re going to be on the good side of things.
“And to be able to have everybody locked in and hard working from easy games to hard games and be able to be here today is just amazing.”
It was the third time in five years for No. 25 Liberty (31-11) to play in a title game and the second time in three years for No. 6 Vets (33-9) so something had to give.
The Redhawks deliberate offense gave fits to the up-tempo style that the Patriots are accustomed to, but Veterans inability to make shots and an intense defensive effort from Liberty were also factors.
Vets scored just four more points in the final three quarters than they did in the first quarter when the Patriots took an 11-6 lead. Liberty held VM to two points in the second quarter.
”The game needed to be played in a pace that we wanted and we wanted that half-court pace,” said Liberty coach Ross Reedy. “We didn’t want back-to-back buckets regardless of who it was.”
The energy expenditure that defending the deliberate Liberty offense required took its toll on the Patriots.
Vets shooting percentage fell each quarter to a woeful 15.4% in the final quarter when the Patriots hit only 2 of 13 shots.
”They slowed us down and tried to wear us down,” said Veterans Memorial coach Christina Camacho, whose team also lost in the 4A title game against Argyle in 2018. “When we would get on a little run we would go cold again and just couldn’t make a shot.”
The 26 points allowed by Liberty tied the Redhawks for seventh on the list for fewest points allowed in 5A state tournament history.
Texas A&M commit Sahara Jones, who led all scorers with 15 points and had a game-high eight rebounds, made things interesting late for Vets.
Jones hit a three and completed a four-point play after being fouled to cut Liberty’s lead to 29-26 with 1:26 left.
But the Patriots missed two field goals and two foul shots to go scoreless the rest of the way while Liberty was hitting clutch free throws.
Owens-Barnett finished with 14 points with eight coming from the stripe, including two with 32 seconds left in the game.
Maya Jain added 10 for the Redhawks, including a jumper and two free throws in the final 1:26.
”The teams that came before that didn’t win it all were special,” said Reedy of his former clubs that didn’t make it to title games or out of regional. “If it wasn’t for those teams and the culture they established then this group wouldn’t execute the way they did today.”