Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – There are a handful of wins that can help push a program to new heights.

A win over a perennial power, a ranked team, a title contender or an arch rival can all go a long way in helping a program turn the corner.

Liberty High got all of those on Friday night.

Christian Barney scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, including a pair of clinching free throws with 1.5 seconds left as Liberty High stunned 4A seventh-ranked West High 58-55 in a cross-town showdown in Iowa City.

“This is big for us,” Barney said. “This shows us what we can do and gives us a lot of confidence going into these next games.”

Barney was the lone Lightning player in double figures but 10 different players scored for Liberty High which never trailed in the final 11 minutes and 49 seconds on Friday.

The win was the seven in the last nine games for Liberty High (8-8) and the first in program history for the Lightning against West High.

“Coming into the game and I was thinking to myself if we can get this one this might be the one that gets us over the hump,” Liberty High coach Ryan Kelly said. “I am excited to see where we end up, we have to keep working and getting better but I hope this is the one to get us over the hump.”

The average margin of defeat for Liberty High in the first six meetings with West High was better than 22 points.

That included a 74-51 loss to the Trojans on December 10 that was part of an 0-4 start to the season for Liberty High.

Friday was different.

“We started off a little rough but we never stopped believing and kept pushing,” Liberty High junior Luke Ramsey said. “We fought and we kept trusting in each other.”

Liberty High trailed 18-13 after one quarter and 24-19 midway through the second but closed the half on a 6-2 run to pull within one point at the half.

West High took a 34-30 lead on a Christian Barnes basket with 5:25 left in the third quarter before Liberty High rattled off eight unanswered points to take a lead and would never trail again.

“When we went in at halftime and it was a one-point game I think our kids realized that if we take care of the ball and we get good shots we’ll have a chance,” Kelly said. “I think it was that last minute and 20 seconds before the first half where we cut it to one was a big.”

Liberty High led 45-42 after three quarters and the teams traded baskets for the first four minutes of the fourth.

West High pulled even at 52 on a driving layup by Barnes with 2:04 left but Liberty High answered on the ensuing possession.

Sophomore Graham Beckman grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a putback with 1:47 left to give the Lightning the lead for good.

“We needed points at the end and I was just trying to battle my butt off to get those boards,” Beckman said. “I just put it right back up.”

Barney and Griffin Kraft each had six rebounds and Beckman and TJ Tellis four apiece as Liberty High finished in a 30-30 rebounding deadlock with the taller Trojans.

“Rebounding was big for us knowing that they had the size advantage over us,” Beckman said. “We knew we had to box them out hard and go up and get it.”

Ramsey gave Liberty High a 56-52 lead with a steal and layup with :47 seconds left.
West High had seven of its 14 turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“I was making sure (Jack McCaffery) wasn’t going to get a shot off because he is one of the better three-point shooters in our conference and I just saw the ball,” Ramsey said. “I took off with it because I knew we needed a bucket.”

West High (13-4) still had a chance late.

Liberty High missed the front end of back-to-back one-and-ones and Kareem Earl converted a layup with 15 seconds left and was fouled going to the rim with 3.5 seconds left.

Earl made the first free throw but the second rimmed out and Barney rebounded and hit a pair of free throws with 1.5 seconds left to secure the win.

“The thing about Christian that I love is he steps up in big moments and big games,” Kelly said. “We saw it in football all year and he’s done it in basketball this year. When it’s a big moment, when the lights are bright he steps up.”

Da’Shon Fisher had eight points despite missing time with an injury and Ramsey and Kraft each had seven for Liberty High.

Pete Moe had a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds for West High while Earl had 13 points and Barnes finished with 10.

“I’m just really proud of them because one thing we talk about is we compete,” Kelly said. “We don’t care whether we win or lose but we want to compete for 32 minutes and whatever happens at the end happens at the end. I’m just elated for all these guys because they went out and competed for 32 minutes.”

Liberty High             13  12  20  13  –  58

West High                  18   8   16  13  –  55

Liberty High (58) – Ja’Quez Hall 1-5 1-2 3, Christian Barney 6-10 3-4 16, TJ Tellis 1-4 1-1 4, Griffin Kraft 3-5 1-2 7, Gage Kampman 1-2 0-0 2, Luke Ramsey 3-7 0-0 7, Graham Beckman 2-3 0-0 4, Owen Swartzendruber 1-1 0-0 2, Da’Shon Fisher 3-9 1-2 8, Trey Hughes 2-5 0-1 5, Totals 23-51 7-12 58.

West High (55) – Christian Barnes 5-8 0-1 10, Jacob Koch 2-7 0-1 5, Pete Moe 9-16 3-5 21, Jack McCaffery 1-5 0-0 3, Kareem Earl 5-9 2-4 13, Ben Hoefer 1-2 0-0 3, Totals 23-47 5-11 55.

Three-point field goals – ICL 5-16 (Hall 0-3, Barney 1-2, Tellis 1-2, Ramsey 1-3, Fisher 1-2, Hughes 1-4), ICW 4-16 (Barnes 0-3, Koch 1-4, McCaffery 1-5, Earl 1-2, Hoefer 1-2). Rebounds – ICL 30 (Kraft, Barney 6), ICW 30 (Moe 9). Turnovers – ICL 7, ICW 14. Total fouls – ICL 12, ICW 15. Fouled out – ICW (Earl). Technical fouls – None.

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