Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – When Ryan Kelly thinks about what he wants his Liberty High team to be the third-year head coach envisions a group that plays great defense, pushes the pace and shares the ball.

“We want to be a team that plays defense, we want to get up and guard people, we want to control the tempo of the game and we want to get our kinds of shots,” Kelly said. “That’s our goal.”

There were moments all of those elements were visible on Saturday as the Lightning opened the season with a 74-62 win over Clear Creek Amana in a non-conference contest in Tiffin.

What stood out most in the season-opener was the unselfishness on offense.

Nine different players scored between six and 14 points on Saturday as Liberty High shot 50 percent from the floor while winning its season opener for the sixth time in seven seasons.

“We want to play as a team,” Liberty High senior Gage Kampman said. “We have eight or nine guys that can all score so it’s just a matter of going out there and having fun and competing.”

Senior Trey Hughes had a team-high 14 points and freshman point guard Jerimiah Washpun had 10 in his prep debut.

Seven other Lighting players had at least six points led by Kampman and junior Collin Decker with nine.

“If we have five guys that are around 10 or 12 points that makes us really tough to guard,” Kelley said. “If we have that you can’t really key in on one guy and you have to guard all four or five of us and I think we have the ability to do that. A lot of guys showed the ability to score tonight and we just have to keep getting better.”

Liberty High found its footing late in the first quarter and never looked back.

The Lightning closed the opening quarter on a 10-2 run that was capped by a deep 3-pointer by Hughes that just beat the first-quarter buzzer.

“Having that overall balance on offense really gives us a lot of options,” Hughes said. “We don’t have to rely on one guy, instead we are able to take a guy out and put another guy in that can replace him perfectly fine.”

Liberty High led 31-21 and stretched the lead to 44-23 with a 13-2 run to open the second half.

Liberty High had stretched of solid defense, holding the Clippers without a field goal for nearly four minutes to open the second quarter.

The Lightning was also dominate on the glass, outrebounding Clear Creek Amana 47-25 while grabbing 15 offensive rebounds.

“I liked energy and effort,” Kelley said. “When we are in our spots and talking and communicating I think we are a pretty good basketball team. I really like the energy and the effort and the competing.”

The Lightning pushed the pace all game, especially after halftime, scoring 43 points on 55 percent shooting in the second half.

Cael Schramm had eight points and Cooper Webb, Shea Sanders, Maddoc Coapstick and Stephen Cain all had six.

“We need to continue to play for our teammates,” Kampman said. “It’s more important to play for a good shot rather than your shot.”

Andrew Rotzoll led Clear Creek Amana (0-2) with a game-high 20 points on 5-of-8 3-point shooting.

Haiden Hardy had 14 points and Cale Berry added 13 for the Clippers who dropped their second consecutive game to a 4A opponent after falling to West High in its opener.

Liberty High                         17  14  23  20  –  74

Clear Creek Amana              12   9   14  27  –  62

Liberty High (74) – Jerimiah Washpun 4-7 0-0 10, Maddoc Coapstick 3-4 0-0 6, Collin Decker 3-8 0-0 9, Stephen Cain 2-6 0-0 6, Gage Kampman 4-7 1-2 9, Shea Sanders 3-3 0-0 6, Cael Schramm 3-5 2-5 8, Cooper Webb 3-7 0-0 6, Trey Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Trey Hughes 5-11 2-2 14, Totals 30-60 5-9 74.

Clear Creek Amana (62) – Reece Cochran 1-2 0-0 2, Haiden Hardy 5-16 4-4 14, Brock Hilsman 1-4 2-6 5, Cale Berry 5-16 0-0 13, Andrew Rotzoll 7-13 1-1 20, Robert Meade 3-3 1-2 7, Ethan Vice 0-3 1-2 1, 22-57 9-15 62.

3-point field goals – ICL 9-24 (Washpun 2-4, Decker 3-6, Cain 2-4, Kampman 0-1, Webb 0-1, Williams 0-2, Hughes 2-6), CCA 9-23 (Hardy 0-4, Hilsman 1-2, Berry 3-8, Rotzoll 5-8). Rebounds – ICL 47 (Kampman 11), CCA 25 (Berry 5, Hardy 5). Turnovers – ICL 19, CCA 14. Total fouls – ICL 18, CCA 7. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – Clear Creek Amana bench.

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