Game Notes, Liberal at Valley Center

The Liberal Redskins travelled from the far reaches of southwestern Kansas to take on Valley Center Tuesday night. And after the Hornets reeled in the visitors after starting the game in a 9-0 hole it became a tight-fisted chess match. Valley Center had a couple chances to break it open late second quarter. Liberal responded with defensive intensity in the second half that brought the Hornets to a virtual offensive standstill in the entire fourth quarter. Only a challenged, mid-range, last second shot by senior Morgan Thatcher delivered a 1-point win for the Hornets. Below is a look at standouts for each team.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Liberal</h3>   [player_tooltip player_id='192780' first='Hailey' last='Contreras'], 5'4", PG, 2024 - Contreras showed me game on both ends of the floor that I have long been familiar with...but not more consistently and maturely as I saw in this contest. A very high IQ player who is clearly the team leader, Tabor College is going to love what she brings to the table next fall. A terrific jump shooter with easy 25' range she is fast; has extremely quick hands, and can score or find the scorer from anywhere. What she did defensively in the last quarter was impressive. Absolutely ate up every ball handler Valley Center turned to, completely disrupting their offense. She and her running mate Rhine just knew where each were are at all times and created instant offense and turnovers quickly.   [player_tooltip player_id='544017' first='Shamari' last='Lewis'], 6'0", PF, 2026 - Lewis was at her best during the bookend quarters and played really well in parts of the middle quarters. Lewis is athletic, fast, long, and has scoring ability around the hoop. And when she laid wood on people, she kept opposing bigs from taking rebounds away. She also did well blocking shots, including recovering in transition to swat a potential game winner away on the right block. Zoned in Lewis showed herself to be a sit-down defender with quickness to defend on the wing and the physicality to defend every Valley Center big inside.   [player_tooltip player_id='669756' first='Kylie' last='Rhine'], 5'6", SG, 2026 - Rhine and Contreras make up a strong back court who play with and off of each other well. They know where each other are and where to look for each other in broken play and transition opportunities. Rhine showed good transition speed, finishing ability with either hand at speed, and how dangerous she can be with range. She defends with quickness and uses her quick hands to disrupt basket attacks, weaving work on the perimeter, and when jumping passing lanes.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Valley Center</h3>   [player_tooltip player_id='856989' first='Reese' last='Bieker'], 5'8", SG, 2024 - Hands down Bieker was the team's best defender on Liberal's point guard Contreras. Her size, quick feet, hand speed, transition speed, and playing with a bit of a chip were noticeable. She plays with confidence. Occasionally she got a little frustrated with the quality off-ball defense she had to contend with. Bieker was often looked to, especially late, for perimeter shooting but did not get clean looks when she got opportunities. However, she did show transition speed; scoring ability; and disruptiveness defending on the perimeter.   [player_tooltip player_id='675832' first='Anna' last='Duncan'], 5'10", SF/PF, 2025 - Duncan had a terrific summer playing club ball and those extra 30 or so games clearly enabled her to show her talents. Duncan's quickness, movement off the ball, transition speed, and passing ability were on display. And while her quick, soft interior passing was very strong where she especially excelled at was in her athleticism scoring the ball and working off the bounce in the mid-range. She scored and grabbed rebounds very awkwardly at times and yet kept balance and poise to not travel. Duncan runs well and hustling coast-to-coast to get or challenge looks was strong. And especially with her wing-span she was able to alter and collect passes consistently.   Taylor McDonald, 6'1", C, 2026 - McDonald caused a substantial amount of problems and not just because of her frame and length, particularly on the offensive end. McDonald showed smooth, purposeful movement and good hands she expectantly caught nearly everything she could get to and her opponent could not. She also kept the ball up and finished well after the catch. Defensively she challenged shots and used her length to gather boards. She also transitioned well.

The Liberal Redskins travelled from the far reaches of southwestern Kansas to take on Valley Center Tuesday night. And after the Hornets reeled in the visitors after starting the game in a 9-0 hole it became a tight-fisted chess match. Valley Center had a couple chances to break it open late second quarter. Liberal responded with defensive intensity in the second half that brought the Hornets to a virtual offensive standstill in the entire fourth quarter. Only a challenged, mid-range, last second shot by senior Morgan Thatcher delivered a 1-point win for the Hornets. Below is a look at standouts for each team.