It’s being dubbed the battle of the number 1’s.
 
The Liberty Christian girls’ basketball team will play host to Bishop Lynch at 6 p.m. on Friday in a battle between the top two teams in TAPPS girls’ basketball.
 
“It’ll definitely be a fun game,” Liberty girls’ head coach Ken Burroughs said. “These are the two best teams in TAPPS and it should be an exciting game to watch.”
 
Exactly who is the No. 1 team is up for debate.
 
Liberty (24-2 overall) is ranked No. 2 behind Bishop Lynch (16-7) according to the latest TABC state rankings list from December 18. However, both teams are listed in a tie for the top spot in the Dec. 16 edition of the Dallas Morning News’ Large Private School poll.
 
Both teams have state titles to their credit – with Liberty winning its first last year.
 
Liberty, in particular, is doing wonders this season after losing several key players from last year’s state title team to graduation. They recently won the Mansfield Rotary Invitational last weekend, giving them 19 wins in a row heading into Friday’s tilt. The tournament win was the team’s third this season. They’ve also won the Cowtown Classic and the Arlington Lamar Tournament.
 
In the recent tourney, the Warriors faced a who’s who of perennial playoff favorites between Class 3A to 5A during the three-day event. They opened the tournament with a 69-61 win over Cedar Hill (No. 3 in Class 5A), followed by a 58-44 win over Dunbar (No. 4 in Class 4A) in the second round.
 
They advanced to the finals thanks to a 57-50 wild win over Canyon, and then beat Mansfield Timberview (No. 2 in 5A) 66-63 in double overtime.
 
“If you look at those types of teams we are playing, it tells you the level we are playing at right now,” Burroughs said. “The last three days have certainly been tough on the girls, but they didn’t want to be second in this tournament. They wanted to win it. Right now we aren’t just capable of playing with these teams, we are showing that we are capable of beating them.”
 
Against Timberview in the finals, Liberty had to sink a shot as time expired to send the game to overtime. Whitney Hand – who won Offensive MVP honors for the tournament – finished with 33 points on the night, followed by Madison Middle (All Tournament Team) and her 14 points. Timberview jumped out to a 13-7 lead after the first quarter, but Liberty narrowed the gap to 25-18 heading into the second half.
 
That’s when the Warriors started to make their move. They outscored Timberview 32-25 in the final two quarters of regulation to push the overtime frames.
 
“The fans definitely got their money’s worth from that game,” Burroughs said. “We were sunk numerous times in that game, and you kept thinking that we might get down by too much. But these girls kept fighting and it is a true tribute to them that we won that game.”
 
Regardless of what happens after Friday’s game against Lynch, Liberty will certainly be battle tested heading into playoffs. The team opens league play at Arlington Grace Prep on Jan. 8 followed by Fort Worth Christian on Jan. 11.

                                                                       2OT
Liberty Christian              7     11    18    14  16    -- 66
Mansfield Timberview   13     12    13    12  13   --  63
LIB: Whitney Hand 33, Madison Middle 14, Brittney Bird 7, Ali Horton 6, Caitlin Flores 6.
MTV: Nicole Terral 16, Maegan Conwright 15, Keena Mays 11, Chenale Smith 6, Brianna Nickerson 6, Camille Redmon 4, Courtney Conwright 4, Chanice Smith 1.