The Liberty Bell High School boys’ basketball team, playing with a reduced roster over the holidays, lost to two 1A teams last week at the Cascade Hoop Classic in Leavenworth.
Host Cascade outdistanced the Mountain Lions, 56-30, the tournament’s opening game. Senior Carson Gunnip-Hunter had a productive outing for Liberty Bell, leading the team with 12 points. Junior Simon Studen added 9.
In the second game of the tourney, Eatonville raced to a 39-12 halftime lead on the way to a 64-18 win. Studen led the Mountain Lions with 11 points.
“Two similar games with similar outcomes to the game we played against another 1A team last week, Omak,” coach Kyle Acord said. “We came out playing well in the first quarter, but turnovers affected our play in second and third quarters, leading to a large deficit.”
“Fortunately, the guys continue to play hard and our fourth quarters have been better,” the coach noted, “but we are still looking to put together a strong showing for all four quarters.”
The Lions were on the road at Manson on Tuesday (Jan. 2) and play at Tonasket on Thursday (Jan. 4). The next home game is on Saturday (Jan. 6) against Bridgeport, with tipoff at 7:30 p.m.
“We’re looking forward to getting the entire team back together as league play starts back up,” Acord said.
The losses left the Mountain Lions 0-9 for the season and 0-5 in league play.
Cascade 56, Liberty Bell 30 Liberty Bell 6 5 6 13 30 Cascade 12 15 17 12 56 Owen Hevly 0, Brayden White 0, Carson Gunnip-Hunter 12, Peter Aspholm 6, Lucaas Gonzales-Ortega 1, Simon Studen 9, Bo Hughes 2. Eatonville 64, Liberty Bell 18 Liberty Bell 7 5 1 5 18 Eatonville 14 25 17 8 64 Owen Hevly 2, Brayden White 3, Jude Klemmeck 0, Peter Aspholm 2, Lucaas Gonzales-Ortega 0, Simon Studen 11, Bo Hughes 0.
