MORRAL (Crawford County Now) — Ridgedale head coach Michael Mathey knows anything can happen come tournament time.

If the first points of the night had anything to show for what would come the rest of the game, his star, junior Billy Wren, would rise to the occasion to help Ridgedale outlast Liberty Christian 57-42 in a Division VII sectional semifinal.

“When he can put both those things together, defense and offense, he kind of elevates our team a little bit,” Mathey said.

That would be the theme of the game, not only for Wren who also had four steals, but for his teammates as well, as they forced 9 turnovers in the first quarter alone to jump out to a 10-4 lead. Wren started the scoring with a 3 on his way to leading the Rockets with 15 points for the night.

After a couple of Isaac Lust lay-ins, defense to offense would involve Wren once again as he was on the scoring end of a 3-point play to help the Rockets to an 11-0 run with just over three minutes to go in the half.

Daniel Onabanjo ended a 3-minute scoring drought for Liberty Christian with 2:20 left in the first half. Michael Deas and Vince Shuster chipped in a couple of free throws, Deas hit a lay-up and Ridgedale jumped out to a 28-9 at intermission.

“Create some turnovers and use our defense to create some offense,” Mathey said.

That is what the coach wanted from the get-go, and it resulted in his team forcing 16 turnovers for the first half alone, and outscoring the Eagles in the second quarter, 18-5, to head into the locker room.

Whatever Liberty Christian head coach Mark Glenn said at half-time must have worked, because the Eagles only gave the ball away five times in the second half.

After alternating 3-point baskets from the Eagles’ Eli Hatton, and Ridgedale’s Ayden Salyer to start the third quarter, Liberty Christian exploded for 20 points in the period and cut the deficit to 10 before Salyer shaped a 13-point advantage grabbing an offensive rebound to give Wren a second 3 for the game, and the Rockets a 42-29 heading into the final frame.

Liberty Christian’s M.J. Glenn, averaging almost 19 points per game but who was held scoreless through the first half, started the fourth quarter with a bang as he would use a 4-point play to get the Eagles within single digits.

That was the closest Liberty Christian would get as once again Wren had an answer, knocking down a 3 from the left wing 25 seconds later. Ridgedale then cruised, using an 18-9 run to close out the game, capped by a J.J. Slaughterbeck steal and basket with 1:25 left.

“Give credit to Liberty Christian, they came in here and didn’t back down, and they battled the whole time, so good job to them,” Mathey said.

Liberty Christian ended their season at 7-15. The Rockets move to the sectional final to face Danville for the second time in 17 days.

“Message to our guys, let’s go over there and pull the upset and I think that can be done,” Mathey said.

Ridgedale looks to avenge the 57-40 to the Blue Devils and win their fifth game in a row, to make a second straight district appearance.

Ridgedale travels to Danville for a sectional title game on Friday at 7 p.m.

Box score

Liberty Christian       4        5      20     13 — 42

Ridgedale                10      18      14     15 — 57

Liberty Christian (7-15): Shots 13-33; 3-pt. shots 7-16 (Eli Hatton 3, M.J. Glenn 2, Jaxon Reynolds 2); Free throws 9-18; Rebounds 22; Turnovers 21. Scoring: M.J. Glenn 4 7 17, Eli Hatton 4 0 11, Daniel Onabanjo 2 0 4, Jaxon Reynolds, 2 0 6, Owen Dressler 0 2 2, Carson Rogers 1 0 2.

Ridgedale (15-8): Shots 20-49; 3-pt. shots 5-13 (Billy Wren 3, Ayden Salyer, Mason Turner); Free throws 12-19; Rebounds 28; Turnovers 10. Scoring: Vince Shuster 0 3 3, Ayden Salyer 4 2 11, Michael Deas 1 3 5, Isaac Lust 2 0 4, J.J. Slaughterbeck 2 2 6, Billy Wren 5 2 15, Mason Turner 2 0 5, Jaxon Cook 3 0 6, Kayden Kraviec 1 0 2.