BRIAN BESCH | PCE Chris Washington leans in for the dunk attempt.

The Lions established an early lead with its defense versus Liberty Tuesday, winning a 61-35 contest over the Panthers.

A 20-2 lead early in the second quarter was enough to allow Livingston to coast for a while. They did coast, and Liberty closed the advantage to 10 points at 25-15 early on in the third quarter. 

"The first half, we played OK, but we still didn't play with a lot of energy," Livingston coach Calvin Phillips said. "Then, we came back in the second half and I thought we were going too slow. We talked about putting more man-to-man full court pressure on in the second half so we could get ourselves going. That kind of helped us out."

The man-to-man defense indeed helped, as Livingston scored 23 points in the period to quell any chance of a Panther comeback. 

Chris Washington led the way with a dozen points, while Izzy Enard had 11 and Julian Gardner added nine.

"I will take a win any way that it goes," Phillips said. "We are back tied for fourth now and we've got Hamshire-Fannett. If we can get them, that would be a big win for us right there."

Livingston fell to Hamshire-Fannett in the first round by seven points. The hope is they can take a week to prepare with an open date Friday and get a win that would propel the team into playoff contention. The Longhorns are currently tied for fourth place with the Lions. 

Phillips said his first year as head coach at Livingston is not going how he planned.

"I don't like where I am at, I will be upfront with you on that. When I stepped in the gym at the beginning of the year, I saw the size and athleticism of those guys. I thought we would probably be in the running. We started off 5-0 and dropped off and started playing very erratic. It's kind of been disappointing, but I will still take what we have. I am hoping that we will finish up strong and peak out in the second half and get some more wins."

The coach said that he wonders if all of his athletes are committed to him or if they are still trying to figure him out the same way he is trying to figure them out.

"They don't know how to take me. I get on them hard sometimes and in this time and age, some kids don't take that kind of coaching anymore. You have to be more positive and not run them so much in a negative mode. I'm learning them and they are learning me, and if we can get in that fourth spot (playoff seed), that would be a blessing."

The coach said in order to reach the postseason, his team's shooting would need to improve so the half-court offense can be more productive. The team now relies heavily on its defense to create offense.

After the road trip to Hamshire-Fannett Tuesday, the Lions will host district leaders Huffman Hargrave next Friday.

BRIAN BESCH | PCE The Livingston boys won the Corky Cochran Relays on Thursday, while the Lady Lions finished second.

Varsity Boys Points By School

1st Livingston HS 97

2nd Huntington HS 95

3rd Tarkington 94

4th Woodville HS 93

5th Liberty HS 72

6th Jasper 71

7th Diboll HS 54

8th Northland Christian HS 21

100 M Dash

1st Nic Ray Northland Chri... 11.85

2nd KALEB SELLS Jasper 11.94

3rd Tank Johnson Livingston HS 12.08

200 M Dash

1st Justin Legg Livingston HS 23.66

2nd Nic Ray Northland Chri... 24.37

3rd Ajani Bell Tarkington 24.48

400 M Dash

1st Riley Johnson Tarkington 54.17

2nd Nick Paxon Huntington HS 55.10

3rd Elijah Mansfield Huntington HS 56.93

800 M Run

1st CONNOR MONROE Jasper 2:08.07

2nd Romero Rene Liberty HS 2:09.06

3rd Moran Matthew Liberty HS 2:14.41

1600 M Run

1st Flowers Patrick Liberty HS 4:53.86

2nd Moran Matthew Liberty HS 5:06.45

3rd Romero Rene Liberty HS 5:10.51

3200 M Run

1st Flowers Patrick Liberty HS 10:35.65

2nd Justin Hales Livingston HS 11:44.77

3rd Jason Williams Tarkington 11:45.86

110 M Hurdles

1st Ronald Washington Woodville HS 15.90

2nd Ayden Colbert Huntington HS 15.99

3rd Kevon Paire Woodville HS 16.00

300 M Hurdles

1st Ayden Colbert Huntington HS 44.30

2nd Quincy Humphries Huntington HS 46.28

3rd Tanner Johnson Tarkington 48.29

4x100 M Relay

1st Diboll HS 46.22

2nd Tarkington 46.39

3rd Woodville HS 46.88

4x200 M Relay

1st Woodville HS 1:37.44

2nd Livingston HS 1:39.01

3rd Huntington HS 1:39.22

4x400 M Relay

1st Jasper 3:45.20

2nd Tarkington 3:47.21

3rd Huntington HS 3:51.69

Long Jump

1st ron washington Woodville HS 19’-7"

2nd Ajani Bell Tarkington 19’-0 1/2"

3rd Linus Maninno Woodville HS 18’-9"

Shot Put

1st SHUNMARKUS A... Jasper 48’-7 1/2"

2nd Gums, Jeremiah Diboll HS 41’-2 1/2"

3rd Ladanian Walker Livingston HS 41’-1 1/2"

Discus

1st Gavin Edwards Tarkington 128’-2"

2nd Ladanian Walker Livingston HS 112’-1"

3rd Brynten White Livingston HS 101’-0"

Triple Jump

1st Teal, Chris Diboll HS 41’-9"

2nd Ayden Colbert Huntington HS 39’-9 1/2"

3rd Lloyd Evans Woodville HS 39’-7"

High Jump

1st Linus Maninno Woodville HS 6’-4"

2nd Brandon Lyons Livingston HS 6’-0"

3rd Ayden Colbert Huntington HS 5’-10"

Pole Vault

1st Heifner Trace Liberty HS 9’-0"

Varsity Girls Points By School

1st Woodville HS 140

2nd Livingston HS 112

3rd Liberty HS 82

4th Northland Christian HS 71

5th Tarkington 47

6th Huntington HS 42

7th Jasper 23

8th Diboll HS 10

100 M Dash

1st Knepper, Abbie Liberty HS 13.38

2nd Bolton, Helene Diboll HS 13.64

3rd Azairiah Harrell Livingston HS 13.76

200 M Dash

1st Knepper, Abbie Liberty HS 28.55

2nd Brianna Boddie Tarkington 29.26

3rd Robinson, Cherish Liberty HS 29.46

400 M Dash

1st Julia Hearn Northland Chri... 1:06.00

2nd Maddie Hearn Northland Chri... 1:08.11

3rd Brooklynn Baker Tarkington 1:12.47

800 M Run

1st Anyhia Duncan Livingston HS 2:35.49

2nd Abigail Wietstruck Northland Chri... 2:35.79

3rd Shivers, Julianne Liberty HS 2:40.33

1600 M Run

1st Abigail Wietstruck Northland Chri... 6:06.42

2nd Shivers, Julianne Liberty HS 6:16.93

3rd Trinity Polk Northland Chri... 6:22.26

3200 M Run

1st Ryleigh Stewart Woodville HS 16:05.22

2nd Ashley Davis Woodville HS 16:10.51

100 M Hurdles

1st Kaaliyah Youngblo... Livingston HS 19.54

2nd Ava Hartsell Livingston HS 20.38

3rd Mia Poncho Livingston HS 20.43

300 M Hurdles

1st J. McDougal Jasper 53.93

2nd Bree Davis Huntington HS 57.56

3rd Quiana Castle Woodville HS 1:00.38

4x100 M Relay

1st Liberty HS 52.15

2nd Livingston HS 52.78

3rd Woodville HS 54.00

4x200 M Relay

1st Woodville HS 1:57.55

2nd Livingston HS 1:57.59

3rd Liberty HS 1:58.13

4x400 M Relay

1st Woodville HS 4:51.91

2nd Livingston HS 5:01.37

3rd Huntington HS 5:11.67

Long Jump

1st Brianna Boddie Tarkington 15’-2"

2nd Brooklynn Baker Tarkington 14’-7 3/4"

3rd Azairiah Harrell Livingston HS 14’-5 1/4"

Shot Put

1st Nattali Vonessen Woodville HS 31’-8"

2nd Kamryn Grammer Woodville HS 29’-10"

3rd Jewell Capps Huntington HS 28’-9"

Discus

1st AALIYAH ROBINS... Jasper 113’-8"

2nd Meredith Langdon Northland Chri... 93’-1"

3rd Paxton Joslin Tarkington 85’-5"

Triple Jump

1st Madeline Wietstruck Northland Chri... 31’-8"

2nd Brittany Lilley Woodville HS 29’-10"

3rd Janyrah Kibble Woodville HS 29’-3"

High Jump

1st Tamara Martin Woodville HS 4’-8"

2nd Anyhia Duncan Livingston HS 4’-6"

3rd Kamryn Grammer Woodville HS 4’-6"

BRIAN BESCH | PCE Livingston’s Jon’Toyrian McNeal scored a game-high 27 points Tuesday.

Liberty versus Livingston Lady Lions

The Livingston Lady Lions suffered their second district loss in as many games Tuesday, as the Liberty Lady Panthers escaped Polk County with a 45-42 win.

“It was rough,” Livingston coach Brittany Jefferson said. “I at least expected the girls to come out here and do what they were supposed to do. They came out and, just to be honest, they had no energy whatsoever. We wouldn't box out, we didn't get rebounds, the turnovers with the guards that I had — we were just giving the ball straight to Liberty. They just didn't do what they were supposed to do.”

The game Tuesday was a case of too little too late. The defending district champions seemingly picked up their intensity and focus in spots, but could not sustain a high level of play. A fourth-quarter comeback attempt fell short.

Leading 9-4 in the first quarter, Liberty went on a 12-3 run and eventually took a 22-19 advantage into the break at the half. The Lady Panthers came out of the locker room and put another eight points up before Livingston answered.

“The last two minutes of the game, they wanted to pick it up and tried to pick it up, but it's too late,” Jefferson said. “You are supposed to do that at the beginning. When you are trying to do that in the last two minutes of the game and you are down by six or eight points, it's too late. You should have just picked it up at the beginning. If they would have played like they did in the last two minutes, then it probably would have been an easy win. Since they didn't do that, it just didn't happen.”

Liberty’s Madyson Goudeau led the Lady Panthers with 15 points, Drelyn Willis had 13, and Reese Evans added eight. For Livingston, Jon’Toyrian McNeal had 27 points, Z Garner finished with eight and Natavia Davis had seven.

Livingston is now winless in two district games, dropping the first to district favorite Hardin-Jefferson in a lopsided 103-10 blowout.

“I would have assumed that, hopefully, we would have been 1-1 now,” the coach said. “We just have to take it as it is and, hopefully, they'll learn from it. If not, it is going to be a long, long, long season.”

Jefferson most wants her team to be able to take care of the ball. The team had problems setting up and executing an offense because of an inability to control the basketball.

The Lady Lions’ next opportunity to get in the district win column will be Dec. 18 on the road at Hamshire-Fannett.

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