Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – After flashing impressive potential in a strong varsity debut season Andre Brandon returned for his junior season a better, stronger and more aggressive player.

The even better news for Liberty High is that it appears Brandon will have plenty of help in his second season.

Sophomore Ethan O’Donnell had a double-double with a game-high 15 points to lead four Liberty High players in double figures in a 63-55 season-opening win over Washington on Tuesday in North Liberty.

“To be a successful team you have to be able to work as a team,” O’Donnell said. “You have to have everyone working together, move the ball and have everyone contribute to the team. I think we had that tonight.”
Brandon carried much of the offensive load for the Lightning last season.

The 6-foot-5 forward was the lone Liberty High double digit scorer a year ago averaging 14.3 points per game.

In the Lightning’s season opener Brandon got help from everywhere.

O’Donnell had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Isaac Bender and Ben Houselog each added 10 points as Liberty High shot 51 percent from the field.

“From last year I think we improved as a team and I think we can keep improving,” Brandon said. “I feel like if we stay together we can keep getting wins.”

Brandon was his usual productive self on Tuesday as well finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Brandon and the 6-foot-4 O’Donnell were too much for Washington to handle in the post.

The duo helped Liberty High hold a 38-30 rebounding edge and caused problems with their length on both ends of the court.

“They are both unselfish, they will both run the floor and they can both hit the boards hard,” Liberty High coach Stu Ordman said of Brandon and O’Donnell. “I think they have really matured in the last year.”

O’Donnell averaged 6.8 points and 3 rebounds per game a year ago.

If Tuesday was any indication those numbers could spike for O’Donnell this season.

“I learned a lot from last year and I think we can improve a lot with one year of varsity basketball under our belts,” O’Donnell said. “We can all improve a lot because we have that experience that we didn’t have last year.”

O’Donnell went 5-of-10 from the field and hit his only 3-point attempt on Tuesday.

The ability of O’Donnell to step away from the basket allowed more room for Brandon to operate in the paint and vice versa.

“When we are out there together we can spread the court and one of us can play high and one of us can play low,” Brandon said. “It gives us a lot of options.”

Brandon and O’Donnell combined for 15 first-half points as Liberty High built a 42-31 halftime cushion.

The Lightning shot 63 percent in the opening half, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, as eight different players scored during the first half.

“We were getting out in transition, we were able to run the floor and that’s when we are at our best,” O’Donnell said. “We were sharing the ball.”

Washington made things interesting after halftime.

Trailing 44-31 after a pair of Brandon free throws the Demons rattled off a 12-2 run to pull within 46-43.

Washington took its first lead since 3-2 with a 7-0 run that was capped by a Luke Turner layup that put the Demons up 50-49.

The lead lasted for seven seconds.

Brandon hit a jumper to give Liberty High a 51-50 lead after three quarters and scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to push the lead to 55-50.

Washington never got closer than three the rest of the way.

“I thought we played pretty well,” Brandon said. “They made a run at us but we kept playing and got the W.”

After allowing 50 points through three quarters Liberty High held the Demons to five points in the fourth quarter on 2-of-17 shooting.

Liberty High held Washington without a point for nearly six minutes during a 8-0 run that put the game out of reach.

“We had several times where we had three stops in a row,” Ordman said. “I also think we just need to play time and score better and I thought defensively there were several charges to be had and that will be addressed.”

Trevor Quigley led Washington with 15 points while Turner had 11 and Trashaun Willis had seven points and eight rebounds.

Liberty High              24  18   9  12  –  63

Washington              15  16  19  5   –  55

Liberty High (63) – Grayson Tyler 3-4 1-5 8, Isaac Bender 3-4 2-4 10, Bo Gryp 1-5 0-0 2, Ethan O’Donnell 5-10 4-5 15, Ben Houselog 4-6 2-4 10, Andre Brandon 5-11 4-4 14, Sam Funke 0-1 2-2 2, Corey Baldwin 1-2 0-0 2, Team 22-43 15-24 63

Washington (55) – Luke Turner 5-12 0-0 11, Cade Hennigan 2-7 0-1 5, Trevor Quigley 5-10 1-3 15, Kolten Hinrichsaen 2-7 1-1 5, Ethan Hunt 1-4 0-0 2, Brock Sobaski 1-1 0-0 3, Caleb Tanner 0-1 0-0 0, Kasen Bailey 2-4 1-2 7, Trashaun Willis 3-14 0-2 7, Team 21-60 3-9 55

3-point field goals – ICL 4-10 (Tyler 1-2, Bender 2-3, Gryp 0-2, O’Donnell 1-1, Brandon 0-2), WAS 10-23 (Turner 1-1, Hennigan 1-2, Quigley 4-4, Hinrichsen 0-4, Hunt 0-1, Sobaski 1-1, Bailey 2-4, Willis 1-6). Rebounds – ICL 38 (Brandon 12), WAS 30 (Willis 8). Turnovers – ICL 15, WAS 14. Total fouls – ICL 18, WAS 19. Fouled out – WAS (Hunt). Technical fouls – None.