Moments after the Liberty boys basketball team finished off another impressive fast break late in the third quarter, Winters Mill coach Billy Mays sprung up off the bench as if to shout instructions to his players, but he didn't say anything.

There was really nothing Mays could say to his team.

Liberty was putting on a show Friday night and visiting Winters Mill was unable to stop it. The Lions ran out to a seven-point lead to open the game and had things their way practically all game to rack up a 65-46 victory.

"We wanted to push the tempo and we felt it was an advantage for us," Liberty coach Brian Tombs said. "We got up and down the court fairly well."

Liberty senior guard Justin Brookhart led the Lions with 20 points and teammate Nick Tilson, also a senior guard, chipped in 12 points. Tombs has brought Brookhart along slowly since the veteran suffered a calf injury in late January.

"This is his first full game back in two weeks," the coach said. "He played a little against Westminster [a loss on Feb. 6] and missed the South Carroll and Manchester Valley games [both wins]."

Winters Mill senior point guard Tre Woodyard matched Brookhart's performance, totaling 26 points, five rebounds, and three steals. Avery Serafin added nine points for the Falcons.

"He shoots the ball well and really can get to the basket," Tombs said of Woodyard, who had 17 points in the second half. "You can't stop him. You just hope to contain him."

Woodyard and his teammates just couldn't stop the Lions.

Liberty (12-8, 8-4 in the county) started fast, bolting to its 7-0 lead in the first three minutes behind five points from Tilson. Winters Mill (2-18, 0-12) made that stretch easier for the hosts as the Falcons missed their first three shots and had three turnovers. They followed that drought with a 5-0 run, which Woodyard capped with a 3-pointer.

Winters Mill tied it at 9-9 on a Woodyard free throw with 1:27 remaining. Liberty closed with a 7-0 spurt to make it 16-9 at the end of the quarter.

The Lions extended the lead to 28-15 in the middle of the second quarter, and they boasted a 34-18 advantage at the intermission. Brookhart had 11 points in the first half.

"We talked about it at halftime that when you have a team on the ropes the first few minutes are big," Tombs said. "We need to come out and to make sure that they are not going to be able to come back."

The Lions listened.

Liberty opened the third quarter on a 6-2 run in the first three minutes to boost its lead to 40-20.

The Lions led 51-29 at the end of the quarter, and the advantage ballooned to 25 points early in the final quarter.

"Our kids played hard, but we had too many costly turnovers," said Mays, whose team had 18 turnovers. "We have to learn how to take care of the ball on the offensive end."

Liberty (65): Ronak Morgan 3, Ben Brown 2, Nick Tilson 12, Tristan Kent 8, Jack Selby 8, Sean Kirker 3, Justin Brookhart 20, Steven Goetz 9.

Winters Mill (46): Devin Callahan 3, Chandler Gentzel 2, Avery Serafin 9, Tre Woodyard 26, Blake Kelly 3, Terrence McDonald 3.

Halftime: Liberty, 34-18.

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Boys Basketball: Brookhart getting healthy as Liberty rolls past Winters Mill - Carroll County Times