1A State Championship Preview
#3 Bloomfield (26-3) vs. #1 Liberty Christian (25-4) 10:30 a.m. Team Breakdown Bloomfield They are a slow the game down and wait for a good shot on offense type of team, which works for them because they are really good…
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Continue Reading#3 Bloomfield (26-3) vs. #1 Liberty Christian (25-4) 10:30 a.m.
Team Breakdown
Bloomfield
They are a slow the game down and wait for a good shot on offense type of team, which works for them because they are really good on defense. Offensively they score 54.0 points a game and only allow 40.4 points a game. They have a few good shooters but they mainly try and play good team offense while being nails defensively. Some may have argued that they would not have been able to keep up with the city schools but they did just that in regionals. Liberty Christian is a whole different animal though come Saturday.
Liberty Christian
Liberty likes to score and score a lot with three guys that could score 20 points on any given night. Liberty has played a pretty tough schedule to this point winning some really, really good games. Two of their losses have came to Lapel and Marion and one to 4A Warren Central so this proves they are battle tested. They score 73.5 points a game and allow 52.0 points a game. The only question is going in is that this may be the best defense in terms of points allowed they have seen all year.
Impact Players
Bloomfield
Brandon Van Sant – Brandon will have to have a great game for Bloomfield to win. He will have to shut down the paint and go to work inside, which he can do pretty easily but he will also have to stay out of foul trouble.
Chris Gilmore – Gilmore will have to take over the game like he did against West Washington and shoot the ball really well again. He can do it but this time he will have one of the quickest guys in the state guarding him.
Zach Skinner – Skinner will have to shoot the ball really well in this one. He can do so but he also has to be smart with it and not turn the ball over against the defense because he will handle it a lot in this game.
Liberty Christian
Ronny Williams – Williams will look to create havoc on defense and control the offense. He does both really well and he makes good decisions on both sides of the ball. Williams will have to be on his A game but he usually is.
Franklin Nunn – Nunn plays defense but his real help comes on the offensive side of the ball. He can score in many different ways and he also can rebound the ball pretty well
Greg Dixon – Dixon is another guy like Nunn. He can score the ball and he is quick and long enough to make an impact on the defensive end. He’ll have to play good on both ends in this game.
Game Outlook
On paper Liberty should run away with the game but Bloomfield is very tough and they had to beat two city schools to get to this point but none as tough as Liberty. Bloomfield will have to play great defense which they are capable of but may start to wear down in the second half. Liberty will also have to score the ball and anything over 60 points and I think they win just because Bloomfield just doesn’t have the firepower unless Van Sant goes off. This one may look like a close game and it probably will be up until the fourth quarter when Liberty will take over. Liberty Christian 70 – Bloomfield 55