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Quick start: Lady Redhawks steamroll Creekview in playoff opener
BY CHRIS O'DELL, codell@starlocalnews.com
CARROLLTON -- The Frisco Liberty girls basketball team couldn't have asked for a better start to Monday's bi-district game against Carrollton Creekview.
The Lady Redhawks exploded for a 31-point opening quarter that proved too much for the Lady Mustangs, ultimately giving Liberty a 73-47 victory at Newman Smith.
"Us pressuring the ball really united us," said Mari Mooneyham Harrison, Liberty head coach. "It didn't hurt that we were hitting shots too."
"We knew we would have to keep the pressure on them," Harrison said.
Junior guard Kayla Mundy extended Liberty's lead later in the quarter with back-to-back layups to make it 28-9 with 40 seconds left on the clock. A Creekview turnover on the ensuring possession set up Attura's second three of the quarter, with the latter coming with only eight seconds remaining in the frame.
"We had some turnovers that we normally don't have," said Nikki Heath, Creekview head coach.
Attura scored a game-high 30 points, while Frierson added 21 and Mundy chipped in 12 more.
Things went from bad to worse for Creekview in the early going of the second quarter when Liberty capped a 9-0 run with a Mundy putback layup at the 5:00 mark that made it 37-9.
"You can't get yourself in a hole that big against a tough team like Liberty," Heath said. "We just gave up too many points in the first half."
Creekview ended the half on a 6-2 run to enter the locker room trailing 39-15. Things could have been worse for the Lady Mustangs if not for a 19-point effort from senior guard Peyton Hurst, who became the only Creekview player to reach double figures.
"[Hurst] is one of those kids," Heath said. "She fights every minute. She's such a great senior leader for us."
Liberty quickly ended any hope Creekview had of mounting a second-half comeback early in the third quarter. The Lady Redhawks extended their lead to 49-18 at the 5:25 mark when Attura converted a four-point play after drilling a baseline three with the foul. The triple was proceeded by back-to-back layups by Frierson for a 8-0 run that took less than one minute off the clock.
"[Attura and Frierson] are two vocal leaders for us," Harrison said. "They make those sacrifices of diving on the ground for the ball and the hustle they show is amazing."
Following another Attura three on Liberty's opening possession of the fourth quarter, Creekview closed the gap with an 8-1 run that finished with a transition layup from senior forward Brianna Shavers with 4:55 remaining in regulation.
Shavers ended the night with eight points, joining junior guard LaLa Burnett as the team's second-leading scorers.
"I'm proud of our kids for the way they fought and kept battling," Heath said. "This is a pretty special group. We definitely have something to build on for next season."
The 73-47 loss put Creekview's final season record at 20-14 after earning the No. 4 seed from District 10-4A.
Liberty (32-5) will now prepare for Friday's area-round matchup against Bryan Adams. Specifics of the game had not been determined as of press time.
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