Liberty Bell’s Zane Herrera looked for an open man to pass to as Leif Portmann-Bown (No. 13) posted up against Manson.
By Don Nelson
The Liberty Bell High School boys’ basketball team encountered a tough Manson squad that is positioning itself for post-season seeding last Thursday (Jan. 26), and the Trojans improved their odds with a 50-20 win over the Mountain Lions on Liberty Bell’s home court.
Earlier in the week, the Mountain Lions dropped a road game at Soap Lake, 67-29.
Against Manson, Liberty Bell made the visitors work for most of their baskets in the first quarter, but fell behind, 19-6. The Mountain Lions managed just two points in the second quarter as Manson built a comfortable 36-8 halftime lead.
Liberty Bell kept pace in the second half as Manson shuffled in its reserve players. Leif Portmann-Bown led the Mountain Lions with 7 points.
At Soap Lake, Brendan Saling sank two three-pointers and scored 8 points, while Portmann-Bown added another 8 for Liberty Bell.
The Mountain Lions played at Tonasket on Tuesday (Jan. 31). They will return home on Thursday (Feb. 2) for the final regular season game of the year, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m. It’s also Senior Night on Thursday. Honored will be Portmann-Bown, Saling, Corydon Goodman, Carter Dornfeld and Zane Herrera.
Soap Lake 67, Liberty Bell 29
Liberty Bell 4 13 9 3 29
Soap Lake 27 10 20 10 67
ptsrbsstealsassists
Brendan Saling 8 2 0 0
Owen Hevly 2 3 2 1
Enrique Whites 0 2 3 0
Carter Dornfeld 4 6 1 1
Leif Portmann-Bown 8 4 1 1
Carson Gunnip-Hunter 2 5 1 0
Cash McClane 0 2 0 0
Zane Herrera 5 3 1 1
JV: Soap Lake 57, Liberty Bell 37 (Simon Studen 21, Alex Whites 14, Jude Klemmeck 2)
Manson 50, Liberty Bell 20
Manson 19 17 7 7 50
Liberty Bell 6 2 4 8 20
ptsrbsstealsassists
Corydon Goodman 4 0 0 0
Brendan Saling 0 0 0 1
Owen Hevley 2 2 0 0
Enrique Whites 2 1 0 0
Leif Portmann-Bown 7 5 0 1
Carson Gunnip-Hunter 3 4 0 0
Simon Studen 0 2 2 0
Zane Herrera 2 2 0 0
JV: Manson 60, Liberty Bell 25 (Vince Yuan 11, Alex Whites 6, Brayden White 2, Ian Dornfeld 2, Logan Hall 2, Jude Klemmeck 1, Simon Studen 1)
