Bees take three out of four from Minutemen

Logan Thomas scored most of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter to give Brookville the boost it needed in a thrilling 52-49 victory over visiting Liberty in Friday night’s Seminole District tournament final.

“He really took it in his own hands in the fourth quarter,” coach Chris Young said following the Bees’ third consecutive tournament crown after sharing their third straight regular-season title with the Minutemen. “His teammates on the defensive end got stops. Down 11 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the kids showed a lot of resilience and I’m real proud of them.”

Trailing 43-33, Thomas had one of his three blocked shots and came down with the ball before assisting a three-point play by Josh Spigner. Moments later, he capped a full-court drive with a thunderous, and electrifying, one-handed slam after splitting two defenders, trimming Liberty’s lead to 43-38 and prompting Minutemen coach Jeff Monroe to call timeout.

After the break, Anthony Reynolds hit an off-balanced left-handed shot as he was fouled near the foul line, and completed the three-point play. But Thomas went the length of the court for a running banker and then drilled one of his four 3-pointers from the top left of the arc.

He finally gave the Bees (17-5) the lead, at 50-49, by sinking another trey from the same spot with 23 seconds to go before Chris Harmon missed the front end of a one-on-one at the other end. Jared King (10 points) was fouled on the defensive rebound and hit two free throws with 11.4 seconds left before Justin Martin, who hit both of the Minutemen’s 3-pointers on the night, missed a two-point attempt as time expired.

Liberty (17-6) was led by Kordero Thompson’s 13 points and athletic defensive play.

“They played a great defensive ballgame,” Young said. “They put a lot of pressure on the whole team. They’re more athletic than us at every position.”

Except at the point guard/wing/power forward spot, where Thomas, the Seminole District player of the year, has few equals.

“Logan just took over in the second half and was unstoppable,” Liberty senior center Carlton “Boo” Payne said. “He won the game for them. If we could have shut him down or contained him a little bit, it would have been a different story.”

Playing the game at Brookville was another deciding factor in the Bees’ favor, one week after losing a one-game playoff at Staunton River to determine the No. 1 seed out of the Seminole for next week’s Region III, Division 3, playoffs.

“It was a big factor, the home-court advantage,” said Payne, who was held to nine points after scoring 24 last Friday night. “They had a lot more fans here than we did and that gave them momentum in the fourth quarter and they came out on top.”

Brookville must travel to Robert E. Lee, which beat Liberty twice this season after ending its postseason run in the Region III semifinals last year, for its first-round game on Tuesday.

“Going to Robert E. Lee, this definitely gives us confidence,” Thomas said. “There’s no doubt they’re a great team.”

Liberty will host the winner of Tuesday’s opener between Northside and Fort Defiance in Friday’s semifinal, again at Brookville.