The Liberty Christian boys basketball team placed fifth at the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association state tournament on Feb. 15. 

The Eagles entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed after taking home second place in the Metro Athletic Conference tournament the weekend prior. After dropping their first game 53-38 to Heritage Classical, they were sent to the consolation bracket. 

“It was a pretty close game until about three minutes left. It was a 4 to 6 point game most of the fourth quarter,” LCA coach Butch Clark said. “So, the final score is not as reflective of how close the game was, but they hit their free throws and wouldn’t let us catch up.” 

After a tough loss to Heritage, the Eagles bounced back to win their two remaining games, beating Lighthouse Prep 62-52 and The Daniel Academy 62-42. 

“We had a chance to get some things worked out,” Clark said. “Overall, it was a decent weekend. We were a long shot to win it. We had two teams ahead of us that had beaten us three times, so we would have had to play exceptional basketball to win it.”. 

Clark applauded the efforts of numerous players throughout the season.

“I expected Willie [Mueller] to have a strong year and he did,” Clark said. “He was a double double machine most nights. Phoenix Obermann really played his best basketball of the year in the last three games and even in the MAC tournament. He’s only a sophomore so I’m excited to see that.”

Mueller, who is only a junior, averaged 21 points and 13 rebounds per game throughout the state tournament and broke the 1,000-point mark for his career. Obermann averaged 18 points per game and made 13 out of 15 free throws. 

Clark said Cooper Dixon and Clinton Queen showed tremendous improvement in offense and were counted on to hit outside shots.

Next year, Clark is looking for big things from Cole Nelsen, who was a strong performer on junior varsity and saw some time with the varsity this year.

“Some of the things that I thought I would see early in the season, especially from our younger players and our ability to shoot the outside shot, weren't there. The last month, it’s been a lot better,” Clark said. “We’ve got a lot of younger kids and I thought they grew quite a bit.”

The Eagles will lose two seniors in Queen and Mitchell Scheer. 

“[Queen] improved a ton this year and he was a borderline starter his senior year but he earned his starting spot and showed great leadership,” Clark said. “[Scheer] did not always get the court time but he showed up every day and had an outstanding attitude, a great leader. Just the type of kid you like to have on your team.” 

Clark said he has high hopes for his team in the future. 

“I think we’re going to be solid for several years and if they work hard, they could be better than that,” Clark said. “We’ll have to get serious and we do have the talent but sometimes it takes a little bit more than talent to win. We can make up a lot if we’re willing to extend ourselves a little.”