By EARL WATT
Leader & Times
CIMARRON — For the Lady Redskins Tuesday night and the rest of the regular season, defense may be more important than offense.
With three teams sitting at 18-0 in the Class 6A Western Division, and Liberal one of those teams after Tuesday’s 62-31 win over Cimarron, the tie-breaker will be average points allowed, and Liberal is currently sitting second behind Wichita Heights and only a one-point average ahead of Topeka.
Liberal had no problem scoring against Cimarron, but the aggressive Lady Blue Jays were able to put points on the board late in the third quarter when Cimarron, trailing 45-18, connected on three straight three-point shots to cut Liberal’s lead to 45-27.
But Liberal’s defense only allowed four points the rest of the game, and that included an almost four-minute possession by the Lady Redskins in the fourth quarter when Liberal coach Carter Kruger instructed his team to pass the ball in keep-away fashion.
Cimarron started to foul late to try to force the Lady Redskins to give up the ball, but Liberal’s Machia Mullens rebounded a missed free throw, and the Lady Redskins continued to maintain possession.
Cimarron only scored two points in the fourth quarter, and the Lady Redskins still scored 11 while running the stall.
Ashley Carrillo led the Lady Redskins with 13 points. Mullens and Katie Horyna scored 12 points each, and Aubrey Warden also reached double digits with 10.
“I thought our third quarter was great,” Liberal coach Carter Kruger said. “And then Cimarron hit some shots. They have a real nice team. Their future is bright. They played hard and dictated their terms to us. I thought in the third quarter we did a nice job on both ends, and it paid off for us.”
Liberal travels to Great Bend (5-13) Saturday.