In their 18th meeting since 2010, the Liberty Eagles and Thayer Bobcats battled for the Liberty Tournament championship title Saturday night.
“Liberty vs. Thayer is always interesting,” said Eagles’ head coach Rob Brown. “There’s not a lot of tricks to be had, and everyone knows what you’re getting into. It’s just who’s going to make some shots and who’s going to step up and have a good night.”
The Eagles ultimately were able to have that good night, as they achieved victory in their hosted tournament, 65-62.
In the opening of the contest between the SCA conference rivals, the Eagles came out of the gate shooting and defending their basket well, and went on a 16-4 run on the state-ranked Bobcats.
“They just came out and hit us right in the mouth from the get-go,” said Thayer head coach Matt Pitts.
At the end of the first quarter, Liberty led 25-9.
Thayer answered in the second half, going on a 16-0 run and taking the lead with four minutes to play, 26-25. Liberty responded by shutting down Thayer’s scoring, forcing turnovers, and putting up 9 of their own to lead 34-26 entering the half.
“I was really proud of the way we went down 26-25, and then we ran off 9 straight, answered their run, and went into the half with an 8 point lead,” said Coach Brown. “That was huge. We could have wilted and gone the other way, but we answered and that was a monumental moment going into the third quarter.”
Thayer continued to chip away at Liberty’s lead in the third, and the teams entered the half with the Eagles leading by 4, 46-42.
With a minute left in the fourth, the Eagles led 60-52, but sent the Bobcats to the line, where they sunk two free throws. Liberty went four for eight from the free throw line in the final minute of the game, allowing Thayer to get within striking distance. Sinking two three-pointers in the final 17 seconds, the Bobcats suddenly trailed Liberty by 3 points. The final shot by Thayer with .7 on the clock was no good, and the Eagles held on to their early lead to win the tournament.
“I was proud of all of them,” said Coach Brown. “We took second at the Thayer Tournament and second at the Cabool Holiday Tournament. It was nice to springboard into our own tournament and get a championship, and hopefully we can use it to get some momentum going down the stretch, going into conference and district play. Over the past 5 years, we’ve kind of gone from this point and used this tournament as a good spark plug for us….it’s been good to us, so we hope to carry that forward.”
Coach Brown added that his biggest takeaway from this game was his team’s poise. “Down the stretch we had one turnover, but we took care of the ball, we didn’t take silly shots…just the poise that took the win, didn’t falter, and didn’t lose the lead. That’s the biggest plus going forward.”
Thayer Coach Matt Pitts credited his tough opponent. “They made some big shots late and they kept playing. My hat’s off to them; they wanted it a little more than we did, I think, and we’ll get better because of it.”
“I know the guys are down right now, but they did a really good job. If it makes us better, that’s one of those things you’ve got to go through.”
Thayer’s Zach Horton led all scorers with 25, followed closely by Corbin Dewick of Liberty with 23 points.
Also scoring for Thayer: Ayden Henry, 18, Zyman Langley, 7, Will Tillman, 7, Tucker Hargrove, 4, and Beau Kaffka, 1.
Scoring for Liberty: Mathew Coatney, 14, Shalin Stout, 13, Josh Pruett, 7, Brenton Bush, 3, Devin Hedden, 3, and Koel Orchard, 2.
All-Tournament Team
MVP – Corbin Dewick, Liberty
Josh Pruett, Liberty
Mathew Coatney, Liberty
Zack Horton, Thayer
Ayden Henry, Thayer
Klay Barton, Doniphan
Brad Eddens, Doniphan
Jed Edwards, Alton
Caleb Steele, Alton
Trent McBride, Eminence
