Liberty Bell sophomore Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega elevated to score two of his team-leading 17 points against Bridgeport.
The Liberty Bell High School boys’ basketball team had its best offensive game of the season, but it wasn’t quite enough to catch the visiting Bridgeport Mustangs in a 62-51 loss on Dec. 18.
The Mountain Lions kept pace with Bridgeport through the midway point of the first quarter, and stayed within three, 16-13, on a three-pointer at the two-minute mark by sophomore Nolan Falcon-George. The quarter ended with Bridgeport up, 19-15. Liberty Bell stayed close, trailing by four with two minutes to go in the second quarter, before the Mustangs extended their lead at halftime to 32-25.
Bridgeport padded that margin by four in the third quarter to lead, 46-35, going into the final frame. The Mountain Lions played the Mustangs even through the last eight minutes, after falling behind by as much as 15 points, but could not close the 11-point gap.
Sophomore Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega had a break-out game for Liberty Bell, leading the team in scoring with 17 points to go with a strong rebounding presence. Four other Mountain Lions scored six points each: Falcon-George, senior Owen Hevly, sophomore Dusty Patterson and sophomore Tyler Darwood.
The loss left the Mountain Lions with a 2-5 record for the season, 2-3 in league play.
Liberty Bell played at Soap Lake on Friday (Dec. 21). Because of early deadlines for this issue of the Methow Valley News, results of that game will be reported in the Jan. 2, 2019, issue.
Over the Christmas break, the Mountain Lions will take part in the Entiat Tournament, along with Bridgeport, Pateros and the host team, on Friday and Saturday (Dec. 27–28).
Bridgeport 62, Liberty Bell 51
Bridgeport 19 13 14 16 62
Liberty Bell 15 10 10 16 51
Owen Hevly 6, Tommy Knox 2, Nolan Falcon-George 6, Dusty Patterson 6, Simon Studen 4, Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega 17, Tyler Darwood 6, Shay Crandall 4
Scoring through seven games: Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega 52, Dusty Patterson 49, Owen Hevly 45, Simon Studen 40, Nolan Falcon-George 32, Deken Smith 21, Tyler Darwood 17, Shay Crandall 11, Tommy Knox 8
