Liberty Bell freshman Sawyer Crandall put up a jump shot against Oroville in the Mountain Lions’ 88-48 loss. Crandall scored 3 points and handed out 2 assists.
The Liberty Bell High School boys’ basketball team started a three-game slate of league games with a win over Soap Lake last week, but ran into tougher opposition against league-leading Lake Roosevelt and Oroville.
The results left the Mountain Lions with a 2-5 record in league play, 3-8 overall. Here’s a look at last week’s action:
• Liberty Bell 61, Soap Lake 51. Liberty Bell asserted home court advantage from the opening minutes, taking an 18-6 lead after one quarter, which included a technical foul on Soap Lake. The Mountain Lions stayed consistent and lengthened their lead to 37-21 in the second quarter, although a Soap Lake 3-pointer at the buzzer closed the gap a bit.
Liberty Bell came out flat in the third quarter, and the Eagles used the lapse to cut the Mountain Lions’ 16-point lead in half going into the final quarter. Soap Lake at one point got within 6 points, but Liberty Bell bounced back with strong final 8 minutes to close out the 10-point win.
Junior Nolan Falcon George and senior Shay Crandall each scored 13 to lead the Mountain Lions. Junior Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega added 9 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Dusty Patterson dished out 5 assists.
• Lake Roosevelt 74, Liberty Bell 17. The unbeaten Raiders gave the visiting Mountain Lions no breathing room on the way to an easy win, jumping to a 41-10 halftime lead. It didn’t get better for Liberty Bell in the second half. Crandall and junior Deken Smith each had 4 points for the Mountain Lions. Gonzalez-Ortega grabbed 5 rebounds.
• Oroville 88, Liberty Bell 48. The visiting Hornets stung early and often, taking advantage of the home team’s ball control problems, on the way to a 47-25 halftime lead — mitigated somewhat by Falcon-George’s 3-point shot at the first quarter buzzer.
Liberty Bell picked up the pace in the second half and put up a respectable 29 points, but Oroville continued scoring on steals leading to fast breaks, 3-pointers, and lay-ins. Falcon-George topped the stat sheet with 15 points, while junior Tyler Darwood added 11. Crandall pulled down 7 rebounds.
The Mountain Lions host Waterville-Mansfield, who Liberty Bell beat earlier in the season, on Friday (Jan. 17). On Saturday (Jan. 18), Liberty Bell travels to Manson.
Liberty Bell 61, Soap Lake 51
Soap Lake 6 15 13 17 51
LBHS 18 19 5 19 61
Riley Lidey 7, Isaiah Stoothoff 7, Magnus Treise 2, Nolan Falcon-George 13, Dusty Patterson 6, Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega 9, Tyler Darwood 4, Shay Crandall 13
Lake Roosevelt 74, Liberty Bell 17
LBHS 6 4 5 2 17
LR 20 21 19 14 74
Deken Smith 4, Nolan Falcon-George 3, Dusty Patterson 2, Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega 2, Tyler Darwood 2, Shay Crandall 4
Oroville 88, Liberty Bell 48
Oroville 23 24 25 16 88
LBHS 10 9 16 13 48
Deken Smith 2, Riley Lidey 4, Magnus Treise 1, Sawyer Crandall 3, Nolan Falcon-George 15, Dusty Patterson 4, Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega 2, Tyler Darwood 11, Shay Crandall 6
Scoring through 11 games:
Nolan Falcon-George 143, Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega 78, Tyler Darwood 64, Dusty Patterson 62, Shay Crandall 55, Riley Lidey 44, Isaiah Stoothoff 40, Deken Smith 36, Sawyer Crandall 22, Magnus Treise 22, Alex Whites 3
