Arvin at Liberty — Tournament preview (Jan. 2 at Highland HS, Bakersfield)

SBLive Report,

Highland HS - Bakersfield -

Arvin Bears travel to Liberty Patriots in an early-season tournament clash at Highland High School in Bakersfield on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. Tip is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. PST. Follow the official game page on SBLive: https://scorebooklive.com/california/basketball/games/6029832-arvin-vs-liberty

Quick facts

Date/time: Friday, Jan. 2, 2026 — 2:05 p.m. PST

Location: Highland High School — Bakersfield, Calif.

Game page: https://scorebooklive.com/california/basketball/games/6029832-arvin-vs-liberty

Home: Liberty Patriots — https://scorebooklive.com/california/basketball/teams/156968-liberty-patriots-fr (0-0)

Away: Arvin Bears — https://scorebooklive.com/california/basketball/teams/156910-arvin-bears-fr (0-0)

Why this matters

This is an opening-weekend tournament game, so both teams come in without regular-season records and with early-season questions to answer. There’s no recent meeting data available between these programs in the SBLive game entry, which adds a little extra intrigue — expect coaches to use this contest to set rotations and establish identities for January play.

Streaming and more

Check each school’s NFHS Network page for possible live coverage:

Liberty NFHS page: https://nfhsnetwork.com/schools/liberty-high-school-bakersfield-bakersfield-ca/basketball?referrer_name=scorebooklive&utm_campaign=scorebooklive&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=scorebooklive

Arvin NFHS page: https://nfhsnetwork.com/schools/arvin-high-school-arvin-ca/basketball?referrer_name=scorebooklive&utm_campaign=scorebooklive&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=scorebooklive

Fan notes and how to follow

Arvin currently shows 2 fans on SBLive while Liberty shows 0. Neither team has any fan picks recorded for this game yet. Those numbers may change — follow the teams on SBLive to grow their fan counts and make a pick for fun at the game page: https://scorebooklive.com/california/basketball/games/6029832-arvin-vs-liberty. Picks are for fan engagement and do not affect any win projections.

Looking ahead

Both teams are scheduled to play again on Saturday at the same tournament:

Liberty — Garces Memorial at Liberty, 9:00 a.m. (Jan. 3)

Arvin — Arvin at Garces Memorial, 10:50 a.m. (Jan. 3)

Follow both teams on SBLive for updates, live scoring, and more tournament coverage:

Liberty Patriots: https://scorebooklive.com/california/basketball/teams/156968-liberty-patriots-fr

Arvin Bears: https://scorebooklive.com/california/basketball/teams/156910-arvin-bears-fr

Stay tuned to SBLive for score updates and postgame reaction.