The Liberty Christian boys basketball team is back with many familiar faces and a new excitement Head Coach Butch Clark normally does not feel.
“I hate to be too optimistic coming into a year because normally I am not that way, but I really like the makeup of this team and I think we may surprise a few people,” Clark said.
The Eagles finished with a 20-11 season record last year and placed third in the Metro Athletic Conference. Point guard Phoenix Obermann believes they will have a good chance of winning the conference tournament this year.
“I think we have a good all-around team. We have some shooters and a good post and we all work together on our offense, so I think we’ll do pretty good,” Obermann said.
The Eagles currently have 13 players on their roster, mostly consisting of sophomores. With many underclassmen on the team having a year of experience and playing summer ball, Clark believes there is a decent team balance.
“A lot of them played in the summer league and they were playing against kids that were older than them, so that should get their feet wet a little bit, and they’re not going to be thrown to the wolves,” Clark said. “We have enough juniors that can take court time and I think we can play to the sophomore strengths.”
Clark noted the team is doing a good job with their shooting game, something that was not always great last year. He is also looking to see major improvement in taking care of the basketball and not causing as many turnovers.
“We need to take care of the basketball a lot better than what we have in the past and if we do that, I think we’ll be fine,” Clark said.
The Eagles are also working on ball movement, transitioning and court spacing.
The team only lost two seniors, including leading scorer Jack Duvel. Despite losing Duvel, Clark is hoping to see someone else step up and take on the leadership role he had.
“Tommy [Meyer] and Willy [Mueller] were two kids that got thrown in when they were freshmen and they’ve gone through the growing pains of being the youngest guys on the court,” Clark said. “Their maturity level has improved greatly in the last year, so I’m hoping they’ll stabilize.”
Mueller averaged 14.1 points per game and Meyer averaged 8.4 points last year. Both players recorded 57 blocks and Mueller averaged 10.4 rebounds.
Mueller noted he wants to maintain his offensive abilities and hit 1,000 career points.
“I really am excited about this group and I normally am not that way,” Clark said. “We may turn the ball over more than I want. We might not shoot as well as I think we’re gonna, but if we play the way I think we’re capable of playing, then it’s going to be fun to watch.”
The Eagles won their first game of the season 56-42 on Nov. 11 against Heritage Academy. Liberty Christian will play next at home on Nov. 15 against Heritage Classic Christian.
