Fall dominates Virginia Episcopal, ties Bradley's rebounds record

Tacko Fall, the 7 foot 5 inch center for Liberty Christian had a monster game as the Lions defeated the Bishops of Virginia Episcopal 93-83 in the seventh place game of the John Wall bracket in the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational.

Fall finished with 44 points, the fifth highest single-game performance in tournament history, and 17 rebounds. Over the course of the tournament, he had rebounding games of 27, 13, and 17, good enough to tie Shawn Bradley's 25 year-old record of 57 rebounds in a single tournament. 

"I'm very happy and very proud," Fall said of the accomplishment. "I wasn't expecting this. We just didn't want to leave without a win."

In all, three Lions finished in double figures, shooting 43.3 percent for the game.

"It was tough to play the first game after a tough loss last night," head coach Tony Atkins said. "I'm proud of our guys for bouncing back like they did."

Delante Jones led Virginia Episcopal with 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Sacha Killeya-Jones added 21 in the loss.

"It was a difficult last couple of games," said head coach Curtis Staples. "After playing Orangeville in the opening round, our guys just haven't mentally recovered from that first loss. Today could have really gone either way."

Killeya Jones said going against Fall was helpful in his development as a player.

"It was good for me to go against some bigger guys like Tacko," he said.

The Lions jumped out to an early lead, leading by four after the opening period, but the Bishops took control, leading by four at halftime. Liberty Christian cut the lead to two after the third, and took control in the final period, stretching their lead to as many as 14.