Practice To Start November 10th

The start of the Liberty Blue Jays basketball season will be pushed back a week this year and begin on Monday, November 10th. The reason for the later start is to allow athletes in fall sports a longer break between seasons. The Missouri State High School Activities Association added an additional playoff game for football this season, making it tougher for those athletes to transition to their winter sport.

State Champion

Endsley Evans, a freshman member of the basketball team, won the Class 2 Girl's State Golf Championship this week. Evans, a post player on the basketball team, shot a 77 on Monday to take the overall lead and followed it up with an 80 to take a share of the state title.

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Pre-Season Workouts Going Well

The Blue Jays are currently in their 6th week of pre-season workouts and the girls are really working hard. With numbers between 30-45 players daily the interest level of basketball in Liberty is obviously at a very high level. The daily workouts consist of strength training, conditioning and individual skill improvement. Pre-season workouts will conclude on Thursday, November 6th and the first day of official practice is Monday, November 10th. Liberty will open up the season on the road at Notre Dame de Sion on Tuesday, November 25th.

Jays Have A Great Summer

The Lady Jays had a great summer of workouts and games. The Jays participated in both the Northland League and the Blue Springs South League, compiling a 14-2 record. Liberty also spent a weekend at the University of Missouri Team Camp. Although the record wasn't what the Jays wanted they really learned some good lessons on how to compete against some of the top teams in the state and what level of intensity they needed to compete.

During the summer the Jays played the majority of their games with a roster of one junior, seven sophomores and three freshmen. Missing this summer were two seniors who had prior commitments for the summer. Although the Jays were very young, they made huge strides to becoming a very good team for this season. They are replacing five seniors from a 19-6 team in 2007-2008, including three seniors that are now playing basketball collegiately.

Blue Jays Begin Preseason Workouts

The Liberty Blue Jays started their preseason workouts on Monday, September 15th. The workouts consist of conditioning, strength training, agilities and individual skill improvement. With the success of the Jays recently the numbers for the workouts are large, with over 40 girls participating. The ages range from 8th grade through 12th grade.

The workouts will go for eight weeks, ending the week prior to the start of practice on Monday, November 10th. In the eight weeks the goal of the workouts is for the girls to not only get faster and stronger but also get in shape for the upcoming season.