Liberty thwarts Bishop Manogue to reach final

Thomas Jr. jump-starts win with 18 points

When Liberty’s offense started to struggle in the second quarter, junior point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. stepped up.

Thomas scored 12 of his teamhigh 18 points in the second quarter to help Liberty defeat Northern champion Bishop Manogue 72-51 in the Class 5A boys basketball state semifinals Friday at Cox Pavilion.

The Patriots will face Durango in the title game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Junior guard Andre Porter added 14 points for Liberty, which had 10 players score points.

Liberty (21-9) jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead, but Bishop Manogue (18-12) slowly chipped away. Two free throws from Manogue senior guard Jordan Morency cut the deficit to four points, but that was the closest it would be the rest of the way.

Thomas scored 12 of Liberty’s 19 second-quarter points to grow its lead. Thomas scored six points in the final 54 seconds as the Patriots led 37-22 at halftime.

The Patriots kept the pressure on in the third quarter, pushing the ball with their up-tempo offense and suffocating Manogue with their pressure defense.

Liberty sprinted out to a 17-6 run at the start of the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Eight Patriots scored in the third quarter to extend the lead to 63-37.

Thomas did not play most of the second half with an apparent back injury. Liberty coach Kevin Soares said Thomas will be fine and will play in Saturday’s title game.

Liberty defeated Durango 70-58 in the Tarkanian Classic in December. But the Trailblazers won the last two meetings, 76-69 on Jan. 21 and 6559 in the 5A Southern League title game Feb. 18.

Morency led Bishop Manogue with 14 points.