The Mounties shot just 33% from the field .. including a 3-for-21 (14%) effort on 3-pointers .. while hitting 11-of-14 free throws in the loss. 

Blake Oakley opened the game with a bucket to give Liberty what would be their lone lead of the night at 2-0 before Lancaster hit a pair of threes on their way to a 14-10 lead after a quarter of play. 

Oakley finished with a team-high 16 points .. including a 10-for-11 night at the free throw line, while recording a double-double with 14 rebounds and adding 5 assists. Evan McTish also had a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards, while Adynn Wheeland had 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, Luke Kreger had 6 points and 2 steals and Louis Mercantino rounded out the Mounties’ scoring with 5 points.

Kreger cut the lead to two to open the second quarter, but the Cougars scored the next 9 points to go up 23-12 with 3:30 left before the break. A McTish putback was followed by 6 more Lancaster points to end the first half with a 29-14 lead.

The Cougars opened the second half with 4 straight points, but Liberty rallied to score the next 8 to pull to within 11 points at 33-22 with over five minutes left in the third.

McTish scored 9 points in the third and Wheeland added 5 and Kreger 4 but LCD totaled 20 points to extend their lead to 49-33 as they headed to the final frame.

Oakley hit 9 free throws in the fourth and cut the deficit to single digits twice, but Lancaster held on for the first-round win, bringing the Mounties’ season to a close.

Liberty finishes the season with a 18-9 overall record, an NTL small school title and as the District 4 Class A champions.

Look for a recap on the Mounties’ season soon.

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