HENDERSON — For three quarters, No. 2 Coronado looked poised to hand top-ranked Liberty its first Class 5A Southern League loss. But the Patriots flipped the script Monday night, erasing a double-digit deficit to win 63-59 at home.

Liberty (20-5, 7-0) trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and entered the third quarter down 33-24. Then Dante Steward banked in a 3-pointer that sparked a 10-point quarter from the senior forward. The Patriots closed the period on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 48-46.

“Man, shooters shoot,” Steward said. “That’s all I have to say.”

Tyus Thomas took over in the fourth, scoring nine of his game-high 19 points. He opened the quarter with a 3-pointer from the left wing as the shot clock expired, giving Liberty its first lead since the opening minutes. Tayshawn Caesar added eight points, including a go-ahead 3 that broke a 51-all tie and put the Patriots ahead for good.

“The way they were guarding Tyus, it was going to be hard for Tyus to really go off,” Liberty coach Keith Ulrich said. “So we knew we had to run stuff for Dante to be able to get the ball and make shots.”

Steward finished with 15 points. Thomas hit four 3s, including a 30-footer in the first half that beat the shot clock.

Munir Greig led Coronado (12-8, 5-2) with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. DeVaughn Dorrough had 12 points and five rebounds, and Jonny Collins scored 11.

The win locked up the Southern League’s top playoff seed for Liberty, which holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Bishop Gorman (6-1). Both teams have one league game remaining.

“It was a high-intensity game,” Ulrich said. “The key was when we got down big early … we never wavered in terms of focus and intensity.”

Steward praised Thomas: “That guy, man. GPOY — Gatorade Player of the Year right there. He hits big shots all the time. He’s a great player.”