Liberty, Ray-Pec and Liberty North win third-place games at William Jewell Holiday Classic

After erasing a 16-point deficit, Liberty’s fate fell into the hands of freshman guard Jalen Lewis.

Lewis delivered in memorable fashion with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to lift the Blue Jays to a 70-67 victory over Rockhurst in the Patterson Division third-place game.

“We burned too many timeouts in the first half and it would have been nice to have one there, but Craig (Staws) made a great pick to get him open and it was a good look,” Liberty coach Roger Stirtz said. “He did a great job of knocking it down.”

Lewis finished with 16 points, which was second highest on the team behind Mason Stirtz’s 17 points. Liberty’s Matt Alvey and A.J. Cambric added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Liberty North 60, Truman 49

Liberty North coach Chris McCabe knew it would take some grittiness for his Eagles to bounce back from a tough semifinals loss in a 10 a.m. matchup on Tuesday morning.

They saw a nine-point lead erased in the third quarter, but bounced back to score eight straight points and were nearly flawless from the free-throw line in a 60-49 victory against Truman. It earned North a third-place finish in the William Jewell Holiday Classic Cardinal Division.

“That’s how you hope your team responds,” McCabe said. “When you are in those situations, the only way to grow is to go through it and learn.”

Michael Hughes scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the decisive third quarter, and the Eagles were 11-for-13 from the line in the fourth, securing the victory.

Raymore-Peculiar 64, Lee’s Summit 58

No lead was safe on Tuesdsay with Raymore-Peculiar and Lee’s Summit each shooting 45 percent or better from the field in the Nelson Division third-place game.

This was most apparent when Raymore-Peculiar saw a 10-point lead erased at the beginning of the third quarter. From that point, Ray-Pec battled through seven lead changes before edging the Tigers 64-58.

“That was the biggest factor in the game, when we went on that run and they answered it,” Ray-Pec coach Scott Jermain said. “The game could have easily spread from there, but they did a good job battling back.”

Three Raymore-Peculiar players scored in double figures: Ben Harris led the group with 16 points, Nick Janssen added 14 and James Sappington had 10.

Center 64, Fort Osage 55

Fourth-seeded Center was upset in the first round of the Holiday Classic, but won its next two, including a 64-55 victory against Fort Osage to place fifth place in the Cardinal Division.

Robert Gillum went 11 for 11 from the field and led the Yellowjackets with 30 points. He also had a game-high seven rebounds.

Grandview 63, O’Hara 61

Tyrese Davis’ 21-point performance led the Grandview Bulldogs to a 63-61 victory over O’Hara and a fifth-place finish in the Nelson Division.

Davis went eight-for-10 from the field, which included a three-for-five effort from three-points range. Travis Carson, Ronny Johnson and Sheldon Stevens of Grandview also scored in in double figures.

William Chrisman 75, Central 64

William Chrisman won the Patterson Division fifth-place game, paced by Eli Henderson’s 21 points and teammate Chris Horn’s 20 points.

Central’s Cyree Dunnell led all scorers with 34 points.

This story was originally published December 30, 2014 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Liberty, Ray-Pec and Liberty North win third-place games at William Jewell Holiday Classic."