Liberty Bell’s Carson Gunnip-Hunter (No. 15) launched a jump shot against Oroville as Owen Hevly (far left) and Enrique Whites (No. 12) readied for a potential rebound.
By Don Nelson
The Liberty Bell High School boys’ basketball team employed a stingy defense that made Soap Lake work hard for most of its points, but the Eagles kept just enough distance to register a 45-34 win on the Mountain Lions’ home court on Friday (Dec. 16).
Coupled with a 60-23 loss to Oroville earlier in the week, also a home game, the Soap Lake game left Liberty Bell with a 0-6 record for the season.
The Mountain Lions played Soap Lake even in the first quarter with an aggressive zone defense, trailing by just 9-7. The Eagles found more opportunities in the second quarter and built a 20-13 lead by halftime.
A couple of three-pointers brought Liberty Bell within seven, 28-21, with a little more than three minutes left in the third quarter, but Soap Lake responded with its own run to stretch the lead to 38-27 after three quarters. That turned out to be the final margin, as each team scored seven in the final quarter.
Liberty Bell’s Leif Portman-Bown drove hard to the hoop against Soap Lake in the Mountain Lions’ 45-34 loss.
Carter Dornfeld led the Mountain Lions with 11 points, including three three-point shots, and Leif Portman-Bown added 10 along with seven rebounds. Zane Herrera grabbed six boards for Liberty Bell.
Against a tough Oroville squad, the Mountain Lions were shut out in the first quarter for the second time this season and trailed 24-0, with many of the Hornets’ baskets coming off of steals. Portman-Bown got into early foul trouble and had three before the quarter was over. Oroville was up 26-0 when Dornfeld hit a jumper to get Liberty Bell on the board. The half ended with Oroville up 41-7.
The Hornets substituted freely in the second half, and the Mountain Lions were able to play Oroville evenly for the final 16 minutes. Carson Gunnip-Hunter led Liberty Bell’s scoring with six points to go with five rebounds, Dornfeld had five points and Portman-Bown added four. Enrique Whites pulled down seven rebounds for the Mountain Lions.
Liberty Bell hosted Omak on Tuesday (Dec. 20), and is scheduled to play Cascade High School in Leavenworth at the Cascade Holiday Tourney next Tuesday (Dec. 27) at 4:30 p.m. Liberty Bell will also play on Wednesday (Dec. 28), with their opponent to be determined by the outcome of Tuesday’s games.
Oroville 60, Liberty Bell 23 Oroville 24 17 10 9 60 Liberty Bell 0 7 7 9 23 pts rbs steals assists Corydon Goodman 2 0 1 0 Brendan Saling 0 1 0 0 Owen Hevly 0 2 2 0 Enrique Whites 0 7 1 0 Carter Dornfeld 5 2 3 1 Leif Portman-Bown 4 5 2 0 Carson Gunnip-Hunter 6 5 2 0 Simon Studen 4 3 1 0 Zane Herrera 2 3 1 1 JV: Oroville 35, Liberty Bell 27 (Jude Klemmeck 11, Shay Crandall 9, Owen Hevly 2, Simon Studen 2, Tim Haley 2, Alex Whites 1) Soap Lake 45, Liberty Bell 34 Soap Lake 9 11 18 7 45 Liberty Bell 7 6 14 7 34
pts rbs steals assists
Corydon Goodman 0 1 2 0 Brendan Saling 6 2 2 1 Owen Hevly 0 0 0 0 Enrique Whites 0 4 3 0 Carter Dornfeld 11 3 3 1 Leif Portman-Bown 10 7 3 1 Carson Gunnip-Hunter 2 3 2 0 Cash McClane 3 0 0 0 Zane Herrera 2 6 1 1 JV: Soap Lake 45, Liberty Bell 23 (Simon Studen 8, Shay Crandall 4, Brayden White 4, Owen Hevly 4, Tim Haley, Jude Klemmeck 1)
