Liberty rallies past Widefield on buzzer-beater

Liberty came back from a 13-point halftime deficit Saturday to defeat Widefield 57-56 on a buzzer-beater by Ryan Mattice.

Liberty is back in the running for a bye in the Class 4A Metro League tournament.

Mattice did not start the game, but became a dominant force when he started the second half. Scrapping for loose balls and dominating the offensive boards, Mattice seemed to spark his teammates.

He wound up with a team-leading 17 points, including eight in the fourth quarter.

"I have been recovering from a broken collarbone (from football season), so I didn't start playing until after we came back from Christmas," said Mattice. "I started the second half of the last game so I was ready to go in tonight."

Widefield (10-5, 4-3) jumped out to 7-0 lead and appeared in control most of the game on its home court. The crowd seemed to spur Widefield, as Vince Jackson scored 6 of his 12 points in the first quarter.

Trailing 34-21 at halftime, Liberty (6-9, 4-3) came out in the second half with two 3-pointers by Luke Smith and a putback by Jess Backhaus before Widefield scored.

"We had the shots in the first half," said Liberty coach Jim Chapman. "We sat down at halftime and just went back to the basics."

Liberty took the lead for the first time at 52-51 with just over 4 minutes left on a basket by Brandon Powell. Powell contributed four of his 10 points in the quarter.

The lead changed hands several times in the last 2 minutes until Jackson put Widefield up 56-55 with 15 seconds left. This set the stage for Mattice's heroics.

Liberty's first attempt at a game-winner missed with about 4 seconds left. Players scrambled for the rebound on the floor. Mattice came up with it and laid the ball in as time expired.

- Paul G. Wallace may be reached at 636-0250 or gtsports@gazette.com

Copyright 2001
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.