Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – Like any team playing its first game Liberty High had some ups and downs in its season opener.

With three first-year starters in the lineup the new-look Lightning did plenty of good things against Davenport Central on Thursday.

The Lightning just didn’t quite do enough to get a win.

Liberty High led by as many as 12 points in the third quarter but had just one field goal in the final three minutes in a 66-64 loss to Davenport Central in a non-conference contest in North Liberty.

“The first game of the year we had some ups and downs but I think we showed stretches of what kind of team we can be,” Liberty High coach Ryan Kelly said. “We got up by 10 twice but when we lost our energy level that’s when they made runs coming back.”

Davenport Central junior Carter Light hit a pair of big shots in the final three minutes and finished with a game-high 23 points as the Blue Devils won a season opener for the first time since 2018.

Light snapped a 60-all tie with a bucket in the paint with 2:42 remaining and gave Davenport Central a 65-60 lead with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 31 seconds remaining.

Liberty High still had opportunities to pull even in the final seconds.

A Keshawn Wyldon layup with 16 seconds cut the lead to 65-63 and Davenport Central missed two free throws on its next possession.

Liberty High senior Maddoc Coapstick made 1-of-2 free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 65-64.

After Light went 1-of-2 at the line Liberty High had a final play out of a timeout and Jerimiah Washpun got a clean look at a 3-pointer at the buzzer but it was off the mark.

“I was happy with that shot, I was happy with the execution,” Kelly said. “We got a great look it just didn’t fall.”
Coapstick had 18 points and Washpun had 17 for Liberty High which shot 44 percent from the floor.

However, Liberty High was just 4-of-9 from the field in the fourth quarter and was limited to 13 points over the final 11 minutes of the game after taking a 51-39 lead with 3:16 remaining in the third quarter.

“It comes down to our consistency on defense and then offensively we were not good on defense we were taking quick shots on defense that that doesn’t work out,” Kelly said. “We are going to get better offensively we just have to keep working defensively on maintaining our energy level.”

Liberty High led 35-33 at the half and bolted to a 51-39 lead with a 16-4 run that featured 3-pointers by Collin Decker and sophomore Brady Randall.

Davenport Central responded with a 15-2 run and closed the quarter with 10 unanswered points to take a 54-53 lead.

Randall had nine points and 10 rebounds for Liberty High while Decker and Wyldon each had seven points for the Lightning.

“I thought Brady rebounded well, he battled and played good defense and we are going to need that out of him,” Kelly said. “If he can continue to play like that it’s going to be nice to have that piece.”

Jordan Smith had 16 points and Elias Vargas had 15 for Davenport Central.

Davenport Central            15  18  21  12  –  66

Liberty High                         21  14  18  11  –  64

Davenport Central (66) – Darrien Manning 2-3 0-2 4, Elias Vargas 5-9 2-4 15,

Gio Hayslett 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Guy 0-1 0-0 0, Jassiah Harris 2-8 2-2 6, Jordan Smith 6-11 2-3 16, Zayne Bowen 1-1 0-0 2, Carter Light 10-21 2-4 23, Totals 26-54 8-15 66.

Liberty High (64) – Jerimiah Washpun 7-20 2-2 17, Maddoc Coapstick 6-15 5-6 18, Collin Decker 3-3 0-0 7, Brady Randall 4-8 0-2 9, Cale Baldwin 0-4 2-2 2, Rylen Schweitzer 2-2 0-0 4, Keshawn Wyldon 3-5 0-0 7, Peyton Brooks 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 25-57 9-12 64.

3-point field goals – Davenport Central 6-19 (Manning 0-1, Vargas 3-5, Harris 0-3, Smith 2-6, Light 1-4), Liberty High 5-18 (Coapstick 1-4, Washpun 1-1, Decker 1-1, Randall 1-4, Baldwin 0-1, Wyldon 1-3, Brooks 0-1). Rebounds – Davenport Central 34 (Harris 7), Liberty High 35 (Randall 10). Total fouls – Davenport Central 16, Liberty High 16. Turnovers – Davenport Central 12, Liberty High 13. Fouled out – Liberty High (Decker). Technical fouls – None.

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