Liberty Blue Jays win, reach Missouri state finals at Show-Me Showdown in Springfield

The Liberty High School boys basketball team won Friday to advance to the Show-Me Showdown’s Class 6 championship game on the Missouri State campus in Springfield.

Liberty (26-3) beat Fort Zumwalt North (27-2) 53-51 in an intensely close game.

The contest was tied at 24 at halftime. Liberty trailed 12-10 after the first quarter. Senior guard Javion Byers had eight points to lead the Blue Jays at the halfway break.

Fort Zumwalt North’s Connor Turnbull had 20 points through three quarters, including 15 in the third period alone, and Liberty trailed 42-41 entering the fourth.

Byers finished with 18 points, including four three-pointers, for the Roger Stirtz-coached Blue Jays. Senior guard Bennett Stirtz added 12 points, junior Luke Stubbs 10. Turnbull, a 6-foot-10 junior, finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds.

In the earlier Class 6 boys semifinal, Kickapoo beat Chaminade 71-53. The Liberty-Kickapoo final is set for Saturday at 6 p.m. at JQH Arena.

On the girls side in Class 6, Staley fell to unbeaten Incarnate Word 77-40 in the semifinals in Springfield on Friday. Staley, 21-4, will play in Saturday’s third-place game against Kickapoo, set for noon. Incarnate Word will take its perfect 28-0 record into the championship against Webster Groves, 22-5. The game is set for 8 p.m. Saturday.

Earlier Friday, William Chrisman (23-7) lost 53-43 to Union in the girls Class 5 third-place game. On Thursday, William Chrisman had fallen 53-47 to Whitfield in the semifinals.

And Van Horn regrouped after a heartbreaking double-overtime loss in the Thursday boys Class 5 semifinals with a 73-59 win over Lutheran South in Friday’s third-place game.

Missouri state hoops tournaments

BOYS

Class 4 semifinals

Vashon 69, Blair Oaks 42

Westminster Christian def. Barstow, forfeit

Championship game: Westminster Christian vs. Vashon, 2 p.m. Saturday

Class 5 semifinals

Bolivar 61, Lutheran South 51

Cardinal Ritter 69, Van Horn 67, 2OT

Championship game: Cardinal Ritter 66, Bolivar 56

Class 6 semifinals

Kickapoo 71, Chaminade 53

Liberty 53, Fort Zumwalt North 51

Championship game: Liberty vs. Kickapoo vs. 6 p.m. Saturday

GIRLS

Class 4 semifinals

Mt. Vernon 78, Vashon 55

Boonville 48, Benton 44

Championship game: Boonville vs. Mt. Vernon, 4 p.m. Saturday

Class 5 semifinals

West Plains 46, Union 43

Whitfield 53, William Chrisman 47

Championship game: Whitfield vs. West Plains, 4 p.m. Friday

Class 6 semifinals

Webster Groves 65, Kickapoo 60

Incarnate Word 77, Staley 40

Championship game: Incarnate Word vs. Webster Groves, 8 p.m. Saturday

This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 5:14 PM.