Liberty Bell’s Dusty Patterson drove to the hoop late in the Mountain Lions’ loss to Brewster. Patterson led Liberty Bell’s scoring with 9 points and handed out 4 assists.
The Liberty Bell High School boys’ basketball team avenged an earlier loss to Tonasket with a 57-48 win on the Tigers’ home court last week, then fell victim to Brewster’s high-powered offense and Oroville’s stingy defense.
The victory and two losses left the Mountain Lions with a 4-8 record in league play (5-11 overall).
At Tonasket on Jan. 21, the teams played even through the first quarter, then the home team edged ahead, 27-22, at halftime.
The Mountain Lions came out of the locker room at full speed and rolled out 21 points in the third quarter, catching and overtaking the Tigers for a 43-34 lead to end the quarter. The squads played even again in the final quarter, as Liberty Bell protected its advantage for the win.
“The guys played a great third quarter to turn a 5-point deficit into a 12-point lead at one point,” coach Kyle Acord said. “Aggressive offensive play and defensive rebounding were the keys during that stretch.”
Junior Nolan Falcon-George led the Liberty Bell scoring with 17 points. Junior Dusty Patterson added 11 points and 8 rebounds. Senior Shay Crandall and freshman Riley Lidey each grabbed 8 rebounds as well.
The Brewster Bears came into the Mountain Lions’ gym on Friday (Jan. 24) having scored 100 points or more four times this season, and 90-plus twice. The home team’s active defense, crisp passing and strong rebounding mitigated Brewster’s momentum somewhat and the Mountain Lions trailed by only 18-13 at the end of the first quarter, but the visitors then ran to a 41-23 halftime lead.
Brewster cut loose for 31 points in the third quarter on the way to a 91-46 win.
“I thought we played a strong first half with the exception of perhaps the last 2 minutes of the second quarter,” Acord said. “Unfortunately, we came out a little flat in second half.”
Patterson led Liberty Bell’s scoring with 9 points to go along with 4 assists. Falcon-George and senior Magnus Treise added 8 points each.
On Saturday (Jan. 25), the Mountain Lions took the long drive to Oroville, where they fell 64-39.
“I felt like we were probably a bit tired from the night before, and Oroville really came out with a strong defensive performance as we got behind early,” Acord said. “We made some adjustments at halftime and were able to play this team much better in the second half.”
Indeed, Oroville only outscored Liberty Bell by 27-26 in the final 16 minutes, but it was the Hornets’ 37-13 halftime margin that made the difference. Junior Tyler Darwood was the leading Liberty Bell scorer with 18 points, and junior Deken Smith added 8.
Liberty Bell hosted Manson on Tuesday (Jan. 28) and stays home to face Bridgeport on Friday (Jan. 31).
Liberty Bell 57, Tonasket 48
LBHS 14 8 21 14 57
Tonasket 14 13 7 14 48
Deken Smith 2, Riley Lidey 1, Magnus Treise 4, Nolan Falcon-George 17, Dusty Patterson 11, Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega 7, Tyler Darwood 9, Shay Crandall 6
Brewster 91, Liberty Bell 46
Brewster 18 23 31 19 91
LBHS 13 10 10 13 46
Deken Smith 6, Riley Lidey 4, Isaiah Stoothoff 3, Magnus Treise 8, Nolan Falcon-George 8, Dusty Patterson 9, Tyler Darwood 4, Shay Crandall 4
Oroville 64, Liberty Bell 39
LBHS 4 9 10 16 39
Oroville 15 22 12 15 64
Deken Smith 8, Magnus Treise 2, Sawyer Crandall 2, Nolan Falcon-George 2, Dusty Patterson 5, Tyler Darwood 18, Shay Crandall 2
Scoring through 16 games:
Nolan Falcon-George 192, Tyler Darwood 104, Dusty Patterson 100, Lucaas Gonzalez-Ortega 99, Shay Crandall 81, Riley Lidey 62, Deken Smith 52, Magnus Treise 45, Isaiah Stoothoff 45, Sawyer Crandall 24, Alex Whites 3
