Liberty hands Rustburg a Payne-ful defeat

Liberty’s Carlton “Boo” Payne and Chris Harmon hurt host Rustburg from inside and out in Thursday night’s 63-53 Seminole District triumph.

Both finished with 18 points to lead the Minutemen (10-2, 4-1 Seminole), with Payne posting up against the Dustin Arrowood and Harmon turning several steals into layups on transition.

“They full-court pressed the whole game (and) they sort of pulled away at the end,” Red Devils assistant Brian Black-stock said. “They went on a few runs with their press. At one point in the fourth quarter, we cut it to 1 point and they got three or four steals right in a row that they converted into layups.”

Rustburg (6-5, 1-3 Seminole), which lost seven seniors from last year’s team, didn’t exactly cave in under the pressure, but its inexperience showed.

“At times we handled it well, two or three times they went on some spurts and got several layups in a row. Harmon and (Anthony) Reynolds (13 points) were the ones creating steals and Payne hurt us inside.”

Arrowood, who’s 6-foot-3, did all he could to contain the 6-7 Payne, but it was futile at times.

“He battled tough but Payne’s a good player,” Blackstock said. “If he gets position on you, he’s tough to stop.”

Antoine Davis scored a game-high 24 points for the Red Devils and both he and Arrowood distributed five assists. Davis also had the unenviable assignment of guarding Harmon, but didn’t allow it to affect his offensive game.

“He hit a lot of big baskets when we needed him to,” Blackstock said. “They stretched the lead to 10 or 12 a couple times and he would hit a shot that would pull us back in it.

“We were competitive to the end,” he added. “They kept fighting, and that’s all we can ask of them.”

Brookville 61, Heritage 57

Logan Thomas’ three-point play with 36 seconds left broke a tie as the Bees (6-2, 4-1 Seminole) held off Heritage.

Tevan Crews scored 29 points for the Pioneers, but it wasn’t enough. Brookville outscored Heritage 22-12 in the third quarter as the Bees erased a three-point halftime deficit.

Thomas finished with 20 points, none bigger than the three-point play in the closing minute. After he converted, Will Parsons took a charge at the other end, and Brookville hit free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.