The Liberty Bell High School boys’ basketball team began league play this week after two non-league losses to start the season, both on the road.
Class 1A Omak started with a 22-point first quarter and didn’t let up on its way to a 76-34 win over the Mountain Lions on Dec. 4. At Pateros on Dec. 6, Liberty Bell played the Class 1B Billygoats even for the most of the game before falling by 52-49.
“We couldn’t get much going against a very stingy, aggressive defensive squad in Omak,” Liberty Bell coach Kyle Acord said.
Junior Nolan Falcon-George scored 7 points to lead the Mountain Lions. Junior Dusty Patterson and senior Shay Crandall each had 6 points.
At Pateros, the two teams both scored a total of 38 points in the first, second fourth quarters. But the home team outscored the visitors by 3 points in the third quarter, and that was the difference.
“This was a very close game throughout, with neither team leading by more than 3 or 4 points,” Acord said. “With around 30 seconds left, we were down by 1 point and had a couple of shots at the basket, but couldn’t hit. With 10 seconds left, Pateros secured the ball and after we fouled to stop the clock, they hit a couple of free throws for the winning margin.”
Junior Tyler Darwood poured in 18 points for Liberty Bell and grabbed 7 rebounds. Freshman Riley Lidey added 7 points, as did freshman Sawyer Crandall. Patterson had 9 rebounds, and freshman Isaiah Stoothoff had 8 boards.
The Mountain Lions were at Waterville-Mansfield on Tuesday (Dec. 10), and will host Tonasket on Friday (Dec. 13) in their first home game of the year. Liberty Bell will be at Brewster next Tuesday (Dec. 17) and at Manson on Dec. 20, returning home to host a four-team tournament on Dec. 27–28, including teams from Pateros, Entiat and Bridgeport.
Omak 76, Liberty Bell 34
Liberty Bell 6 14 6 8 34
Omak 22 17 16 21 76
Deken Smith 5, Riley Lidey 2, Isaiah Stoothoff 2, Sawyer Crandall 2, Nolan Falcon-George 7, Dusty Patterson 6, Tyler Darwood 4, Shay Crandall 6.
Pateros 52, Liberty Bell 49
Liberty Bell 14 12 11 12 49
Pateros 14 12 14 12 52
Deken Smith 1, Riley Lidey 7, Isaiah Stoothoff 5, Sawyer Crandall 7, Nolan Falcon-George 6, Dusty Patterson 5, Tyler Darwood 18.
