Recognizing the unpredictability of the current climate, Coach Butch Clark realizes the 2020-21 season could come to an abrupt halt at any time for his Liberty Christian girls basketball team. It’s why he has taken every opportunity to fill the front end of the Eagles’ schedule, even to the extent of a six-day consecutive stretch of games.

“It’s been a crazy week,” said Clark. “We wanted to get games in while we can, because you don’t know when you might get to play again.”

The Eagles have been stricken by quarantine early in the season, limiting their time to address mistakes and work on cohesion.

“I think having two different 10-day periods without practice, where you’re not in the gym where you can correct everything, makes it really difficult,” said Clark.

Following an onslaught of competition, Liberty Christian is now 7-3.

This includes an unplanned entry into the Montgomery County Tournament last week, as the Eagles filled in a vacancy. They finished in sixth place, going 1-2 against a trio of MSHSAA schools.

“We weren’t prepared, and I think our play obviously showed that,” lamented Clark, whose team committed 25 turnovers in two of the three games. “We made some mistakes we can’t make if we’re going to beat good teams.”

Liberty Christian opened the week on Monday against a much larger opponent, falling 47-21 to Class 4 Mexico. The Eagles were able to remain in contention until a second-quarter setback, when leading scorer Andrea Mueller exited with an ankle injury.

“The wheels came off the wagon when Andrea got hurt in the second quarter,” said Clark. “When you lose your best scorer, that’s obviously going to hurt most teams.”

Junior Adison Roden stepped up in her absence, scoring a team-best eight points. Junior Gracie Foran was consistent throughout the week, netting five points and grabbing five rebounds against Mexico. 

The Eagles returned on Wednesday, defeating Bowling Green 60-42 in the consolation bracket. Tied at 29-29 heading into the third quarter, Liberty Christian unleashed a dominant second half to pull away, guided by a 26-point performance from Roden. 

Sophomore guard Alli Meyer added 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Freshman Sophie Mueller netted nine points, while Foran pulled down eight rebounds. 

Liberty Christian finished on Friday in the fifth-place contest, losing 40-29 against New Haven. The Eagles led 15-10 early in the second quarter, before giving up three consecutive fast-break buckets from turnovers. 

“We were just careless with the ball and lost control of the game,” said Clark. “We played from behind from that point on. When you have as many turnovers as you do shot attempts, you’re not going to beat a good team.”

Roden finished with 14 points and five rebounds, playing 31 of the 32 minutes.

“She was a warrior, giving us a lot of minutes she probably didn’t have to give,” said Clark. “Considering she was double-teamed most of the night, when she touched the ball, she did really well. We tried making passes when she wasn’t there, and that cost us at times.”

Foran added five points and five boards. Meyer provided a defensive presence with four steals.

“I’m not displeased with our effort,” said Clark. “The effort was fine, but our execution was lacking a bit. We can fix that.”

The Eagles opened this week with a 55-14 win over Mid-Missouri Home School and will travel to Providence Christian Academy on Thursday and to southern Missouri to play Hayti on Saturday.