Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – With his team trailing 16-2 less than four minutes into Monday’s substate opener Liberty High head coach Ryan Kelly turned to his bench for a boost of energy.

He found what he was looking for in senior Stephen Cain.

Cain came off the bench to score 14 points as Liberty High overcame a sluggish start to earn a 66-51 win over Waterloo West in Class 4A, Substate 8 quarterfinal in North Liberty.

“When I came into the game I just wanted to bring energy,” Cain said. “I’m a senior so this could be my last game so I just want to go out and give it my all.”

Waterloo West (6-17) made six of first seven field goal attempts, roared to a 16-2 lead and led 21-6 when junior standout Jahlil Manago hit a 3-pointer with 2:38 left in the first quarter.

Liberty High responded with a jolt of energy from seniors Cain, Shea Sanders and Cael Schramm.

A two-handed dunk by Schramm followed by a 3-pointer by Cain sparked a 9-2 Liberty High run to close the first quarter.

“At the four-minute mark when we brought in Stephen, Shea and Cael and those three guys turned the game around,” Kelly said. “They changed the atmosphere, they changed the intensity in the gym and that is what allowed us to get back in the game.”

Sanders had a slam in the 9-2 spurt that was capped by a Schramm bucket in the paint and closed the WaHawk lead to 23-15.

That momentum carried into the second quarter as the Lightning scored the first nine points and took their first lead at 24-23 on a Cain steal and layup.

“Kudos to those three they came out and they battled and it didn’t start on offense,” Kelly said of Cain, Sanders and Schramm. “They scored but that isn’t where it changed, it changed on defense. They were getting after it, they were getting physical and they were getting deflections and that’s where it changed.”

Waterloo West tied the game at 27 but Liberty High closed the first half on a 9-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by senior Trey Hughes and never trailed again.

After allowing 23 points in the first six minutes and 16 seconds of the game Liberty High held Waterloo West to four points over the final 9:44 while closing the half on a 30-6 surge.

“Our defense was really good,” Cain said. “We only gave up four points in the second quarter and that was tremendous.”

Freshman point guard Jerimiah Washpun had 10 of his team-high 17 points in the second half as Liberty High improved to 11-11 and advanced to the Region 8 semifinals.

“When Stephen, Cael and Shea came off the bench they brought energy to the game defensively,” Washpun said. “That switched my mindset and I started attacking more offensive and we got the whole team rolling.”

Liberty High set a new program record for wins with the victory on Monday breaking the previous mark of 10 wins established in the 2019-2020 season and again in the 2021-22 season.

The Lightning will attempt to secure their biggest win yet on Friday at eighth-ranked Ankeny (15-6) at 7 p.m.

“We have three days to get to work,” Kelly said. “We had to get through this one first but we will get home and get to work but they are a good team. I feel like we match up pretty well with a lot of teams with our length and our size and the different types of players we can put on the floor. We can find the pieces where we want to mix and match.”

Waterloo West          23   4   11  13  –  51               

Liberty High             15  21  15  15  –  66                                       

Waterloo West (51) – Parker Berns 1-8 2-3 4, Jahlil Manago 9-19 0-0 23, Zion Cook-Berns 0-3 0-0 0, Joseph Hudson 7-10 0-1 14, Shuncere Wortham 4-10 0-1 10, Totals 21-50 2-5 51.

Liberty High (66) – Jerimiah Washpun 6-13 3-6 17, Maddoc Coapstick 1-3 4-6 6, Stephen Cain 6-11 1-1 14, Gage Kampman 1-4 0-0 2, Shea Sanders 1-1 0-0 2, Cael Schramm 2-3 1-3 5, Cooper Webb 2-4 0-0 5, Trey Hughes 6-10 0-0 15, Totals 25-49 9-16 66.

3-point field goals – ICL 7-19 (Washpun 2-5, Coapstick 0-1, Cain 1-3, Webb 1-3, Hughes 3-7), WW 7-23 (Berns 0-3, Cook-Berns 0-3, Manago 5-10, Wortham 2-7). Rebounds – ICL 33 (Sanders 6, Washpun 6), WW 29 (Wortham 7). Turnovers – ICL 9, WW 14. Total fouls – ICL 9, WW 14. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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