With its leading scorer on the bench, the Liberty Christian boys basketball team found it difficult to compete on the road at Wellsville last Friday.
The Eagles fell 62-42 against their latest …
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With its leading scorer on the bench, the Liberty Christian boys basketball team found it difficult to compete on the road at Wellsville last Friday.
The Eagles fell 62-42 against their latest public school competition, with junior Josh Dames watching from the bench. He sat out two games last week after injuring his arm diving for a loose ball against Maryville Christian.
“It’s tough not having him, especially whenever most of our plays are driven around the post player,” said Coach Tanner Meyer. “Our guys are just used to having him there as an outlet and leader. He’s really stepped up as a leader without Andrew (Voss) being there.”
Dames has averaged 22.3 points per game this season. Even with his absence, Liberty Christian had advantages but could not matchup with Wellsville in other areas.
“We were bigger than Wellsville, but they were faster than us,” said Meyer. “They had multiple guys who were confident handling the ball and who could take the shots and hit them.”
Stepping up to fill the void left by Dames, sophomore Cole Christian dropped in 20 points for the Eagles.
“He’s been a big leader for us and is continually working on getting his confidence up,” said Meyer.
Senior David Vaclavik has been finding his groove again, following a period of being sidelined with appendicitis. He chipped in nine points for the Eagles on Friday.
Meyer says his team found itself in an insurmountable hole, unable to battle back from the deficit.
“We began down 12-0 and got shellshocked,” said Meyer.
“After that our defense was good, but we got away from all the other things we know how to do,” said Meyer. “People weren’t boxing off and guarding their man.”
Liberty Christian cut the deficit to 10 by halftime but struggled to overcome the chaotic confines of the small and crowded gym.
Meyer implored his team to embrace the opportunity to play in such a hyped Homecoming game against a public school.
“You’ve got to love this atmosphere and in this type of gym,” said Meyer.
The Eagles finish out the regular season this week with the Metro Athletic Conference Tournament at Maryville Christian in Granite City, Ill. They opened with a 73-58 win over Crosspoint Christian on Tuesday and are slated to face Rivers of Life on Thursday.
The state tournament begins on Feb. 13.
