A stingy defense lifted Livingston basketball 61-29 over Liberty in their first district game of the 2024-25 season Tuesday night in Lion Gym.
Livingston's press and smothering defense held Liberty to just three points in the first quarter. The Panthers were without a successful field goal after eight minutes of play.
Liberty had just 15 points going into the final period after being held to three once more in the third quarter.
“This was probably our best defensive game this year so far,” Livingston coach Sean Berry said. “We did a good job of locking them down and not giving them a lot of options.”
The coach said there were discussions about sliding over and taking a charge instead of waiting to block a shot, but he felt as though the team gave plenty of effort.
Livingston’s offense really missed opportunities to do more, but scoring 37 points in the second half erased any doubt in the outcome. The Lions led by as much as 35 in the contest.
Ziekus Garner was high point in the game with 16 points. Before tipoff, he was honored for eclipsing 1,000 in his high school career. The junior guard received high praise from his coach.
“He is our glue. When things aren't going right and when the game is chaotic, all of them look to him,” Berry said. “It has been amazing to watch this kid grow in this game and being an outstanding young man. Teachers come to me all the time and say, ‘Ziekus did this and it was absolutely wonderful, and he is a good kid and well behaved.’ To see that from the time that he got here when he was a freshman to this year, it is an amazing journey. I am so proud to be a part of it. I can't take any credit for it, but I can at least say that I was a part of it. He is our leader.”
J.T. Randolph had 13 points, T.J. Garner had 12, and Cory Dirden 10.
The Lions will travel to take on the district favorite in Huffman Hargrave Friday.
“We are going to start getting ready for them tomorrow. As a coaching staff, we only focus on the next game. Now that we have Liberty under our belt, we are going to come back tomorrow and look at Huffman on film. We will see what they've got and how we can attack it.
“They like to play fast. If you make it or miss it and they get it, they put a toe out of bounds, and they are going. We have to keep them off the boards. We didn't do a good job of that tonight.”
