Liberty comeback falls just short in 53-48 loss to Huffman

After a slow first quarter, the Liberty Lady Panthers outscored Huffman in every quarter after that, Liberty was close but could not quite get over the hump as the Lady Fal cons held on at the end for a 53-48 win. Held scoreless until 1:00 minute left in the first half, junior Madyson Goudeau paced the Lady Panthers with 23 points, with 17 coming in the second half. In the first quarter, it was all Huffman as the visitor’s outscored Liberty 18-1. The Lady Panthers got their first bucket of the game with 6:10 left in the second period on a Tatelynn Carry drive to make it 21-3. Moments later, it was Carry hitting a three-pointer for five quick points. With under a minute remaining in the first half, Goudeau connected from downtown, and then she connected again just before the horn sounded to get Liberty within 31-15 at the half. Goudeau then caught fire in the second half, and her back-to-back buckets cut the deficit to 35-24. The Lady Falcons then pushed the lead back to 40-24 before a score by Carry made it 40-26. The Lady Panthers then continued their run and, after a three-pointer by Goudeau, had Liberty within 42-34. An offensive rebound and score concluded the 12-0 run by freshman Breezy Pantalion, and the Lady Panthers were the closest they had been since early in the opening quarter at 42-38. Huffman then went on a 10-7 run to lead 52-45 with 1:00 minute remaining until Goudeau nailed a trey, and Liberty had closest the advantage to 52-48. The Lady Panthers had a chance to get even closer, but a pair of turnovers proved costly as the Lady Falcons left town with the victory.