By Don Nelson
The Liberty Bell High School varsity boys’ basketball team clamped down hard on the Pateros Billygoats in the first quarter of Monday’s (Dec. 7) season-opening game, setting the defensive tone for a 67-26 win.
The Mountain Lions also had four scorers in double figures — Connor Cooley (14), Micah Klemmeck (17), Andrew Reggiatore (10) and Josh Frey (15) — a scoring distribution that pleased coach Kyle Acord.
But it was the Liberty Bell defense that determined the outcome early on, as the Mountain Lions raced to a 26-7 lead over the home team in the first quarter.
“I thought the defensive intensity really set the pace for the whole night,” Acord said. “It was nice to see.”
Before the season started, Acord had said that improved defense would be priority this year.
Cooley led the Mountain Lions with eight rebounds, and Frey added six boards. Reggiatore had four steals, and Chase Vander Yacht handed out four assists.
Acord said the team’s play improved after what he called a disappointing performance at the Okanogan Jamboree on Dec. 1, despite prevailing in two 10-minute sessions against Tonasket and Okanogan.
Liberty Bell was scheduled to play at Omak on Wednesday (Dec. 9), and the Mountain Lions will host their first home game of the season on Friday (Dec. 11) against Tonasket at 7:30 p.m. Next up is an away game at Oroville on Tuesday (Dec. 15).
| STATS | |||||
| Liberty Bell | 26 | 17 | 22 | 2 | 67 |
| Pateros | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 26 |
| points | rebounds | steals | assists | |
| Chase Vander Yacht | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Ben Klemmeck | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Brendan Saling | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andrew Reggiatore | 10 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| Connor Cooley | 14 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
| Micah Klemmeck | 17 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Carter Dornfeld | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Zane Herrera | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Josh Frey | 15 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
