Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – Everything about Ira Hazeltine’s breakthrough performance on Friday night seemed like a surprise.

A sophomore surpassing his career scoring total in a single game with the first double-digit scoring night of his career against a cross-town rival.  

That seems like the type of story that would leave coaches and teammates stunned.

Instead no one, Hazeltine included, seemed to be all that shocked by the show the Liberty High guard put on Friday night.

Hazeltine poured in a career-high 17 points while hitting all five of his 3-point attempts as Liberty High (6-7) built an 18-point halftime lead and held off City High 66-57 in a Mississippi Valley Conference cross-divisional matchup in North Liberty.

“We knew he could shoot,” Liberty High junior leading scorer Andre Brandon said. “Those are shots we see him make all the time.”

Hazeltine entered with 15 career points, all coming this season in a reserve role.

He needed less than a half to match that total.

The 5-foot-9 guard buried five first-half 3-pointers, including two on back-to-back possessions in the final 66 seconds of the half that gave Liberty High a 40-22 halftime lead it would never give up.

“Some guys were out so I got a lot more minutes tonight and I got some shots to fall,” Hazeltine said. “It felt good.”

The career-high from Hazeltine and a 17-point, 14-rebound double-double by Brandon helped Liberty High snap a two-game losing skid and complete the season sweep of City High (3-9).

Sophomore Basil Aldoss added 10 points as Liberty High shot 51 percent from the field and was 8-of-13 from 3-point range.

“We just kept moving the ball, running our sets and setting screens and guys were getting open,” Brandon said. “We were able to knock down open shots.”

The absence of Grayson Tyler in the Liberty High backcourt created an opportunity for some expanded minutes for Hazeltine in the rematch with the Little Hawks.

He took advantage early hitting a pair of 3-pointers in a span of less than 30 seconds in the first quarter that put Liberty High up 14-8.

“It helps a lot to get that first shot to go,” Hazeltine said. “That gives you a lot of confidence for the rest of the game.”

City High trailed 17-14 after four straight points by senior Antonio Turner to open the second quarter but Liberty High rattled off 16 unanswered points to take a 33-14 lead.

Brandon put an exclamation point on the 16-0 spurt with a steal and one-handed slam with under three minutes to play in the opening half.

“It was important for us to get going early,” Hazeltine said. “We got some confidence and got our offense going and we were really able to space the floor.”

City High closed the gap to 34-22 but Hazeltine buried back-to-back 3-pointers to close the half.

“Credit to them they came out and the kid stepped up off the bench and hit five 3s and that was a huge difference in the game,” City High coach Derek Roberts said. “They had a kid out and he stepped up huge for them and we should have done a better job of recognizing that and closing out on him.”

Hazeltine entered with five field goals on the season, and 3-of-9 from 3-point range.

He finished 5-of-6 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from 3-point range.  

“I’ve been working hard in practice and I just try to take advantage of my opportunities,” Hazeltine said. “It feels good to contribute.”

City High made things interesting in the fourth quarter.

Trailing 60-42 with under four minutes to play the Little Hawks scored 9-0 unanswered points and cut the lead to 63-57 on a Carter Westlake 3-pointer with 1:25 left.

However, Liberty high hit 3-of-4 free throws from that point on while holding City High scoreless.

Turner had a game-high 23 points to lead City High while freshman Darren Richardson had 10 points.

“To me it was just effort that first half,” Roberts said. “We have to do a better job, there is a lot of season left, we have been doing a lot of good things and we need to bounce back. The second half I don’t question our effort at all but man it’s just ‘why couldn’t we do that the whole game?’” 

City High                   10  12  12  23  –  57

Liberty High              17  23  11  15  –  66

City High (57) – Antonio Turner 6-13 9-11 23, Luke Young 0-2 0-0 0, Carter Westlake 2-9 2-2 8, Jason Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Darren Richardson 4-8 0-0 10, DeAngelo McNeil 4-5 0-0 8, Byron Benton 2-8 0-0 4, Ry Threlkeld-Weigand 0-3 0-0 0, Liam McComas 2-4 0-0 4, Totals 20-53 11-13 57.

Liberty High (66) – Ira Hazeltine 5-6 2-2 17, Isaac Bender 3-7 2-2 9, Bown Gryp 0-1 0-0 0, Kelby Telander 1-1 0-0 2, Ethan O’Donnell 2-5 2-2 6, Ben Houselog 1-2 0-0 3, Andre Brandon 6-10 5-7 17, Sam Funke 0-2 2-4 2, Basil Aldoss 2-5 5-8 10, Totals 20-39 18-25 66.

3-point field goals – ICH 6-26 (Turner 2-8, Young 0-2, Westlake 2-7, Richardson 2-4, Benton 0-2, Threlkeld-Wiegand 0-3), ICL 8-13 (Hazeltine 5-5, Bender 1-2, Gryp 0-1, O’Donnell 0-1, Houselog 1-2, Aldoss 1-2). Rebounds – ICH 21 (McComas 4), ICL 33 (Brandon 14). Turnovers – ICH 13, ICL 19. Total fouls – ICH 24, ICL 12. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by becoming a member.