The last time Liberty and Pleasant Valley’s girls basketball teams met, they were fighting for the eighth spot in district playoffs, won by Liberty, but this time, it was clear there would be no competition in the Hurricanes’ 85-33 victory over the Bears.

“Last year they were a little bit stronger, and they lost some seniors, so that’s kind of tough for the kids, but they came out here and they fought,” said Liberty coach Jarrett Carnes. “[Ella Muir] had four, maybe even five 3s in the first half.”

In fact, the Bears kept it a game for a quarter-and-a-half until the Hurricanes broke things open and took a 43-20 lead into the half.

“We were just going through a funk,” said Liberty guard Layla Orth. “They lost a few players from last year, so I feel like we had to stay humble. But we were slowing down at points, so our biggest thing was not playing down to their level, and the first half, that’s what we were struggling with the most. Although the score didn’t reflect it, I think at halftime, the locker room definitely reflected it.”

By the end of the third quarter, the Hurricanes had held the Bears to four points while scoring 26 in a true team effort.

Jordan Thompson had four points, Ruby Miller chipped in five, Ava Kopetskie added four, and Orth had two. Coming in off the bench, Ally Walker scored five points, Iysis Nickens added three points, and Aziah Wilkins had two.

“I told the girls to stop settling for 3s. If we’re not making outside shots, we’ve gotta attack the basket,” Carnes said. “Even though they’re sitting in the zone, you’ve gotta have some ball reversals there, make them move around, and then feed the inside.”

Chloe Rumelhart entered the game in the fourth quarter, seeming to place the ball in the hoop as opposed to shooting it.

“The girls were excited. She’s a freshman, and she’s 6’5 already, and those were her first four points of her career, so that was nice to see,” said Carnes.

Thompson had a game-high 18 points, followed by Kopetskie with 14, and Miller with 12 points.

Liberty is scheduled to travel to Dieruff on Friday night before its rematch with Bethlehem Catholic on Jan. 31 at home.