Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

CEDAR RAPIDS – It might have been one of the more productive times out in recent memory.

The Johnston boys’ basketball team – having just allowed seven points in a row to Liberty High – was on the wrong end of a 32-26 deficit with 4:06 left in the third quarter.

When the Dragons emerged from the huddle, what followed was an absolute blitz.

“They came out with much more energy,” Liberty High coach Ryan Kelly said after the Lightning lost to Johnston, 58-54, in the second game of the Crossover Challenge Saturday at Alliant Energy PowerHouse. “They executed really well. They ran the same thing about four or five or six times in a row and I think they scored on every possession.”

Following its time out, Johnston (3-5) scored 25 of the next 30 points to corral control of the game at 51-37 with 2:37 to go.

A frantic rally allowed the Lightning to cut it close.

“One of the things we talked about coming into the game was how good they were defensively,” Kelly said. “They did a good job of taking shots away from us and we had a hard time scoring.”

The game was part of the third installment of the Crossover Challenge, which pits boys’ basketball teams – primarily within Class 4A – from eastern Iowa with teams from western Iowa. It serves as a gauge to assist in the formulation of state rankings and is rapidly becoming a showcase event following winter break and before schools return to conference play.

“I love it,” Kelly said. “It has become one of my favorite events that we do. It gives us (Mississippi Valley Conference) teams and even some (Mississippi Athletic Conference) teams a chance to play a different opponent. And I do like as a state that we are trying to have teams from the central Iowa play teams from the eastern side to get a real evaluation of the rankings for when state playoffs come around.”

Junior standout Jerimiah Washpun led all scorers with 27 points for Liberty (3-4), while sophomore Chase Goodheart chipped in 15.

Senior forward Caleb Gbarjolo was one of three Johnston players who scored in double figures (15 points), while Nicare Cavil added 13 and Joshua Jenkins contributed a dozen.

Liberty High returns to MVC play Tuesday with a rivalry game at home against West High (4-3).

“They are a very brand-new team,” Kelly said. “If we can get back and work on what we do defensively and really clean some of those little things up that Johnston exploited tonight and then offensively, really looking at our pace of play. I felt like when we were moving the ball and getting up and down (the floor), we got getting much better shots. But when we walked the ball up the floor, we struggled to get good looks. Really get back to that pace of play.”

Johnston          8   14  14  22  –  58

Liberty High  12   9   11  22  –  54

Johnston (58) – Nicare Cavil 5 1-2 13, Caleb Gbarjolo 6 3-3 15, Tino Daye Jr. 1 4-4 6, Emri Jones 1 0-0 2, Joshua Jenkins 3 3-5 12, Jaden Houser 1 1-2 3, Darren Grandon 3 1-1 7, Jacob Petersen 0 0-0 0, Totals 20 13-17 58.

Liberty High (54) – Asher Kahn 0 0-0 0, Jerimiah Washpun 10 2-2 27, Brooks Andersen 0 0-0 0, Cale Baldwin 0 0-0 0, Rylen Schweitzer 1 1-2 3, Chase Goodheart 5 3-5 15, Brooks Peyton 2 1-2 7, Jacob Stapleton 1 0-0 2, Braden Franklin 0 0-0 0, Totals 19 7-11 54.

Three-point goals – Johnston 5 (Jenkins 3, Cavil 2), Iowa City Liberty 9 (Washpun 5, Goodheart 2, Peyton 2). Total fouls – Johnston 16, Iowa City Liberty 14. Fouled out – None.

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