Liberty Raiders Beat Back Highlanders 75 to 58

The Liberty-Raleigh Raiders beat back every comeback attempt by the Webster County Highlanders Wednesday evening at the Beckley Convention Center/Raleigh County Armory and ran away with a 75 to 58 win.

Opening tip off against the Liberty Raiders: Displaying his quick reflexes

and amazing leaping ability, Morris actually jumped higher than the 6 foot

10 inch tall Raider center Levi Cook. Brett missed the ball but the tip was

still controlled by Webster.

Webster dug themselves a hole in the first half, trailing the Raiders 19 to 11 at the end of the first quarter and by a 34 to 22 score at halftime. Some very questionable fouls called on seniors Hunter Given and Brett Morris hampered Webster's efforts in the first half. Both Given and Morris had three fouls each going into halftime.

A full court press and aggressive play on offense sparked a Highlander third quarter comeback. With 4:21 remaining in the third quarter, Webster trailed by only 4 at 38 to 34 and had possession of the ball looking to cut into the Raider lead even further. The teams traded baskets and Webster still trailed by 4 at 40 to 36 with 3:55 remaining in the quarter.

At this point in the game, the shooting by the Raiders began to heat back up and Webster began to cool down. The third quarter ended with Webster trailing 50 to 43 thanks to a last second three point shot by Morris.

In the fourth quarter, the Highlanders kept the game relatively close trailing by 10 points during most of the quarter until the final minute. With less than a minute to go in the game, the Raiders picked up three easy baskets to pull away by 17 for the final score of 75 to 58.

Morris led the Highlanders with 28 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 assists. Dalton Davis turned in a strong performance, as he scored 14 points, along with 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist. Other Highlanders on the stat sheet included: Hunter Given, 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist; Stephen Cogar, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists; Jake Thayer, 2 points, 1 rebound; Guy Cowger, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist; Logan Taylor, 2 rebounds; Rick Holcomb, 1 rebound; and Robbie Cogar, 3 steals.

As a team, Webster made a cold 24 of 64 shot attempts (37%), including only 4 of 14 from 3 point range (28%). The Highlanders visited the free throw line only 8 times, making 6 shots (75%), with all free throw shots coming from Morris. This free throw statistic is most telling about the fairness of the referees during the game (Brett was the only Highlander to be at the foul line throughout the entire game?--that is quite hard to believe).

With the loss, Webster drops to 11 wins, 3 losses on the season. Liberty-Raleigh is scheduled to travel to Upperglade Saturday for a rematch, with the Junior Varsity tip off at 1:00 p.m. followed by the varsity tip off at 2:30 p.m.

On a bright note, the Highlander JV team pulled away from the Raider JV's in the fourth quarter to win 36 to 22.