Liberty starts hot to beat McFarland

When it’s playoff basketball time, it’s all about starting off hot and establishing control.

The Liberty High girls were in playoff mode from the get-go against visiting McFarland Tuesday at Liberty.

Junior Faith Curry scored the game’s first seven points, part of a 9-0 run. No. 6-seeded Liberty later jumped out to a 20-5 advantage on its way to a 71-48 win over No. 11 McFarland to open the CIF Central Section Division II playoffs.

The 6-foot Curry finished with a game-high 18 points. The Patriots (177), the South Yosemite League champions, advance to play at No. 3 Sierra Pacific in a quarterfinal Thursday at 6 p.m.

Sierra Pacific of Hanford beat No. 14 Mission Prep of San Luis Obispo, 70-50.

“You can’t ask for a better one, right?” Liberty coach Damarius Akins said of his team’s start. “That’s the one you dream about. It started perfectly for us.”

Liberty pressed McFarland (22-7) early on to help build its big lead. The Cougars had trouble with the Patriots’ defense and the up-tempo pace.

McFarland played much better in the second quarter, but the Cougars were still playing catch-up. They matched Liberty, 15-15, in the second quarter and got as close as 26-18, but the Patriots went on a 9-2 run to take a 35-20 lead into halftime.

“If we come out and play the way we want to play we believe we can get starts like that,” Akins said. “Once we get starts like that and have a team playing catch-up I think we’re a tough team to beat.”

Liberty maintained control throughout the second half and Akins gave his starters rest through much of the fourth quarter.

Kaylee Batten, also a 6-foot junior, added 16 points and senior guard Anahy Pimentel scored 11 points.

Senior Annika Fernandez led McFarland with 13 points and senior Sarah Lopez added 10 points.