It came down to the final three minutes of Sunday’s nightcap of the Yasso-Rothrock Christmas City Classic between Liberty and Allen and ultimately the Canaries had more gas in the tank to come out with the win.

Allen got a game-high 30 points from Talek Williams, as they pulled away for a 72-62 victory.

Allen held a 56-55 lead with 3:34 left in the game, but pushed that advantage to five points after a pair of Williams dunks.

Liberty couldn’t sustain the Canaries energy level late, as the advantage turned to 68-58 with 40 seconds left in the fourth.

“I thought we battled, but the last three minutes of the game I thought we gave them a whole bunch of run outs,” said Liberty head coach Chad Landis. “We just made too many mental mistakes at the end.”

Liberty (2-2, 1-1) got solid contributions across the board, starting with Alex Serrano leading the way with 14 points. Najee Plunkett followed with 13 points and Amir Griffin added 12 in a balanced effort.

After wins over Wissahickon and Easton, Landis knew his team would be in for a tough matchup with Allen (3-1, 2-0), but is happy with where his team is at the moment.

“The kids are competing,” he said. “We just need to compete smarter. That’s what we want to focus on through the Christmas break.”

Liberty should get back on track this week when they hit the road against Dieruff (1-3) and Pleasant Valley (0-4) Tuesday and Friday respectively.