Staff photo / Preston Byers Brookfield’s Judah DeJoy (11) jumps for a layup during the Warriors’ home win over Liberty Monday night in Brookfield.

BROOKFIELD — In its second meeting in four days with Brookfield, Liberty hung tight with the Warriors until a disastrous third quarter during which the Leopards were blown away.

After a relatively even first half, Liberty was outscored 23-6 in the third period, which allowed Brookfield to cruise to a 60-38 home win Monday.

“We had a lot more energy than we’ve had in a few games,” Brookfield head coach Shawn Hammond said. “We’ve been struggling a little bit scoring the ball, so I thought the guys just got after it on defense — really, in the second half — and then we were able to convert some shots. So that was probably the difference in the second half, as we were able to make some shots.”

For the first 16 minutes of game action, the teams struggled to create much distance. The Warriors, who tied the game with a few seconds left in the first quarter, took a 26-23 lead into halftime.

Following the break, Brookfield pounced on the Leopards, who committed numerous turnovers and appeared powerless to stop the Warriors’ offense or kick start their own.

To start the third quarter, Brookfield scored 16 unanswered points, a run that lasted until Ameer Haynes scored the Leopards’ first basket with 3:08 remaining in the period. The field goal was one of three in the third for Liberty, which scored six points as the Warriors built a 20-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

While Liberty scored early in the fourth, Brookfield extended its advantage to as many as 29 points amid an 11-2 quarter-opening run that put the game away.

Rob Flynn and Judah DeJoy scored in double figures for the Warriors, while Ramsey Hadi-Cox and Haynes each scored a team-best 10 points for the Leopards.

“Terrible second half,” Liberty coach Steve Arnold said. “[We] didn’t play with composure, didn’t take care of the ball.”

With Monday’s loss, Liberty drops to 5-16 on the season and 1-12 in Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference (MVAC) Grey Tier play.

The Leopards won their only league game last Friday against Brookfield 56-46 at home, which snapped a 10-game losing streak that began more than a month ago.

“I told them in practice yesterday that this was going to be a different team that we played the other night. Not schematically, but their motivation,” Arnold said. “They played with some fire. They played with more fire than we did. And it was evident in the score and outcome.”

Brookfield (12-10, 5-9) may have also entered Monday’s game with a different mindset considering it was the final home regular-season game for its seniors.

“[I’m] really happy with everybody’s effort tonight, sending our seniors out,” Hammond said. “I was going to play everybody, and I wanted everybody to get some minutes so we could just see how those guys stepped up. So it was a good night.”

The Warriors turn their attention to their playoff opener against East Canton. They host the Hornets on Friday in a Division VI, Northeast 1 sectional final.

“We got a couple films on them,” Hammond said of East Canton. “Seems like a real patient offense. They run a little half-court, off man-to-man stuff, but they look like they got good size. So we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

A victory Friday would advance Brookfield to the district semifinal vs. the winner of Lisbon and Independence.

Liberty finishes its regular season at home tonight vs. LaBrae.