As Liberty Bell High School boys’ basketball coach Kyle Acord pointed out, the Mountain Lions’ league game at Bridgeport on Saturday (Jan. 4) was a matter of shifting momentum. Unfortunately, it was the Mustangs who had the final surge in a 72-67 win over Liberty Bell.
There were some good takeaways from the game. Junior Nolan Falcon-George scored a season-high 25 points. Junior Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega added 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Junior Tyler Darwood and senior Shay Crandall each pulled down 8 rebounds, and junior Dusty Patterson handed out 7 assists.
And the Mountain Lions put together what was arguably their best quarter of the year, a 28-point outburst in the third quarter that gave them a 55-46 lead.
But Bridgeport answered with a strong fourth quarter to counter the Liberty Bell advantage, outscoring the Mountain Lions 26-12 to claim the win.
“We jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first quarter, then Bridgeport battled back to take a 2-point lead at the half,” Acord said.
The Mountain Lions have had some flat third quarters this year, but overcame that tendency. “Unfortunately, Bridgeport made another run against us to take a 1-point lead with just over a minute left,” Acord said. “We then missed a couple of opportunities, and they hit their free throws in the last minute.”
The loss gives Liberty Bell a 2-6 record for the year, 1-3 in league play. The Mountain Lions hosted Soap Lake in another league contest on Tuesday (Jan. 7). They visit Lake Roosevelt in a league game on Thursday (Jan. 9), then host another league rival, Oroville, on Saturday (Jan. 11).
Bridgeport 72, Liberty Bell 67
LBHS 11 16 28 12 67
Bridgeport 8 21 17 26 72
Riley Lidey 6, Isaiah Stoothoff 4, Magnus Treise 4, Sawyer Crandall 2, Nolan Falcon-George 25, Dusty Patterson 2, Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega 13, Tyler Darwood 3, Shay Crandall 8
Scoring through eight games:
Nolan Falcon-George 112, Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega 65, Dusty Patterson 50, Tyler Darwood 47, Isaiah Stoothoff 33, Riley Lidey 33, Shay Crandall 32, Deken Smith 30, Sawyer Crandall 19, Magnus Treise 19, Alex Whites 3
