Footballs, volleyballs, soccer balls and the sounds of feet pounding the pavement and trails around the Liberty Bell High School campus are once again prevalent as the Mountain Lions opened fall practices this past week.
It will be a season of building on past successes, and of rebuilding programs hit hard by last spring’s annual graduation departures.
Featured this week are the Mountain Lion football and volleyball programs, which begin competition on Labor Day weekend. Next week we will highlight the cross country and girls’ soccer programs as they open play the following weekend.
Football: back to state?
Head Coach Jeff Lidey returns for his fifth season at the helm, and his talented Mountain Lions open the season ranked at the No. 10 spot in the 1B 8-man football class, according to at least one Washington prep poll.
Lidey led the Mountain Lions to their first ever state playoff victory last fall, returning the Lions to the state dance for the first time since a 2006 appearance when Liberty Bell was a 1A school.
Liberty Bell will be playing as an independent this year, not specifically affiliated with a league, but that still provides a pathway to the state playoffs through Washington Interscholastic Activities Association District 6, geographically located in North Central Washington.
The Mountain Lion schedule reflects that independent status as they will face teams from northern Puget Sound to the channeled scablands of eastern Washington, as well as some traditional north central Washington foes.
The first two games on the slate will be tough: perennial state powers Odessa and Lummi Nation are back-to-back, both games on the road, totaling 692 road miles of travel in the first two weeks. Odessa is the last team Liberty Bell played in 2021, knocking the Mountain Lions out of the tournament last year.
Speed and experience will characterize the Mountain Lions this season, the offense led by senior quarterback Riley Lidey. Sophomore Lucien Paz filled in capably behind Lidey last season and led the team to a couple of victories when the Lidey was indisposed. Paz will start at a running back position, a role he favors. Freshman Alex Ramsay-George appears to be the choice to back up Lidey at the quarterback position with Paz prepared to step in if necessary.
With Lidey slinging to some sure-handed receivers, the Paz brothers (Lucien and incoming freshman Remy) running the ball, and a beefier, quicker, more-experienced offensive line, this could be one of the more prolific and fun to watch offenses in Mountain Lion history. Indeed, the pieces may be in place to provide the Mountain Lion offense with its first dual 1,000-yard running backs since the 2006 season with Beau Stevie and Pat O’Daimhin doing the duties.
Eight-man football often becomes a test of which team is better at containing the other and preventing the breakaway big plays. As good as the Mountain Lion offense will be, the defense will be the key to the season.
Using speed and quickness afoot will be important in preventing the big play. The defensive line has also grown by a year of training and experience. The Lion defense, featuring a number of two-way players from the offense, will be very fast in the backfield and strong inside. That will be of benefit in playing the bulk of their schedule.
Odessa, specifically, provides the unique challenge of being even bigger and stronger, as last year’s Mountain Lions discovered in the playoffs. This group, though, has a high learning curve and gave Almira-Coulee-Hartline a tussle last year after being throttled by the Warriors a year earlier. History being a teacher, look for the Mountain Lions to take the No. 1 Tigers head-on, and who knows?
We do know that this team is going to be fun to watch. Home games kick off at 7 p.m. Get there early, grab a warm cup of cocoa or coffee and seat belt yourself in for a wild ride.
Volleyball: building on youth
With most of last year’s starting lineup now graduated, and new head volleyball coach Beth Blank taking the helm, Mountain Lion volleyball is looking to young players to step up in taking on the more experienced and traditional powers of the North Central Washington 2B league this coming season.
Back in the lineup in time for her senior season will be front-line hitter Ellie Blank. Blank sat out all of 2021 after major reconstructive surgery of her right knee forced her to miss both volleyball and tennis last year. She looked strong and confident during last Friday’s intense inter-squad tournament day, a series of two-on-two matches to assist the staff in ranking all 20-plus athletes, and help define who would be the top eight varsity players as the season approaches.
“We have some really good, young and enthusiastic players,” said Coach Blank of her new charges. “We’re missing some height, which we can’t coach, but I see lots of effort and hustle. They’re gonna battle and surprise some people this year.”
Stephanie Mitchell stays aboard as an assistant coach this year, and though he has hung around the program for years in the background helping out, former Liberty Bell coach and Confluence Volleyball Club guru Greg Knott is back in a more active role as an assistant this year.
“These kids are working hard,” said Knott. “We have the ability to make some good teams look bad, and I think they are going to do just that.”
A lot of height graduated out from last year’s squad with the loss of seniors Jadyn Mitchell, Shae Taylor, Caitlyn Cooley, Joslyn Rispone and Hazel Culpsmith. Also missing this year is junior Maddie Mihalic. After one year at Liberty Bell, the athletic defensive anchor and capable setter has moved out of the area.
Ellie Blank seems to be the likely frontline hitter and best bet to block shots defensively at the net. Wearing a full brace on the affected right knee, she was showing no inclination of trying to protect her leg, planting, jumping and landing without caution.
“I feel fine and am really confident about it,” Blank said of her recovery.
Sophomore Rio Lott will add some athleticism to the front row as she has gained a couple of inches in both physical height and jumping ability. Incoming freshmen Kiki Treise and Helaina Remsberg, along with sophomore Violet Chrastina, have impressed staff with their all-around athletic ability.
Blank provides senior leadership and maturity for the young Mountain Lions, but added that Lott will also play a leadership role. When asked about who is emerging, the senior smiled and said, “Rio is definitely the ‘mom’ of this team.”
Bailey Thomson (junior) and Pearl McArthur (sophomore) showed aptitude for volleyball last year and look to bolster the Mountain Lions defensively. Thomson also adds some length on the front line and McArthur’s strength seems to be at the service line, perfecting the “floater,” a shot that has virtually no rotation and appears to dance, much like a knuckleball in baseball parlance. Keyla Rispone and Katelyn Evans both had some varsity time last year and look to move up to fulltime duty this year.
There is a set of “twin towers” on the JV squad that could work their way into some varsity time this year in junior Katelynn Budrow and sophomore Mackenzie Sheppard. Coach Blank would like the two of them to focus on their defensive net play, providing some extra length up front on the block and altering opponents’ kill opportunities.
On paper, Liberty Bell looks to be in the middle of the North Central Washington 2B League. The coaching staff thinks there could be a different story, dictated by the speed of the Liberty Bell team. Manson, 2021’s third-place team at the WIAA state championships, is the early favorite to earn the No. 1 District seed.
The Mountain Lions hope to break into the top four with Brewster, Lake Roosevelt and Okanogan as the other combatants. Bridgeport, Oroville and Tonasket have been down lately, but time will tell and the District 6 picture will clarify itself in late October.
Liberty Bell has youth and exuberance. They also have some athletic young players, and that, with some good old fashioned hard work, could overcome the old age and treachery thing this year.
Mountain Lion meanderings
- Once again this year there will be no admission fees charged for Liberty Bell sporting events. A reminder from school district staff: please clean up behind yourself after events, making sure garbage finds a can and recyclables find a receptacle. Also, keep food and beverages other than water out of the gym.
- For the second consecutive year, there are no pay-to-play fees for student athletes in the Methow Valley School District
- There are no COVID-related restrictions or requirements this year so far, subject to change as public health conditions might require.
- Junior high programs are once again popular early this academic year with 40 youngsters in the middle school cross country program, 11 in football and 20 volleyball players. Liam Daily and Haida Ikeda return to coach the runners, as does Jim McMillan with the football program. New this year to middle school in volleyball are Brandy Woras and Amber McAuliffe, who will split duties between the eighth-grade and six-seventh-grade teams, respectively.
- Schedules can be found at the Methow Valley School District website, www.methow.org. Check there frequently as they can change occasionally. Junior high volleyball home matches are held in the Eagle Gym at the Methow Valley Elementary School; junior high football plays at Mountain Lion Stadium.
