Liberty overcomes three-point first quarter in win over Renton

Published 2:00 pm Tuesday, December 16, 2025

After a four-point loss to Bellevue last time out, the Liberty Patriots had one thing in mind — get back in the win column. But what wasn’t on their mind was a three point first quarter in their very next game, a sluggish start to say the least.

But the Patriots were able to overcome the offensive log jam on the road and defeat Renton 54-47 on Dec. 12 at Renton High School.

“We faced early adversity and never gave up, we never quit. We are committed to the way we play and when shots don’t fall early it’s easy to get frustrated. I was super proud of the way we stayed to the plan and our resolve,” Head Coach Omar Parker said.

To win a game in Parker’s eyes, a team has to do three things: Play good defense, win the rebound battle and get great shots. In the first quarter, Liberty did two of those three things in both rebounding and defending. The points came later.

“If we check those three boxes, we are gonna win games. I felt like we got good shots, we just didn’t shoot it very well. So we had to rely on defense and rebounding and our guys believe in that and are committed to it,” Parker said.

Renton opened up the first quarter with Sudan Luok finding some time and space offensively with Jalen Taylor cleaning up inside with four first quarter points to Luok’s five. For Liberty, Mason Chin was the only Patriot to put the ball in the cup.

Both sides struggled early as just nine total points were scored in the first seven minutes of the first half. Renton took a 10-3 lead at the quarter break. Liberty was a different team in the second quarter, and the Patriots looked like the side that made the state tournament the two previous years. The spark came from senior Tyson Burley, and the Patriots outscored Renton 21-11 in the second quarter. Burley had 16 of those 21 points.

“He’s our most vocal leader on a team that is deficient in that way. His voice is super valuable, he’s our most natural leader, right there with everybody,” Parker said.

“My teammates helped me pick my spots and when we needed it most, they trusted me,” Tyson Burley said.

Three points in the first quarter, on the road against a good program, good coach and good team is no easy feat to come back from. But the ability to stand together was key, and that started all the way back in the summer.

“We work a lot on our togetherness, in practice day in and day out being able to get together and make sure everybody is with one another. We take that into being tough together too. It’s not just off the court. We are really like a group of brothers that will fight for each other,” Burley said.

Coming into this season, Liberty was looking to be led by Jackson Whitaker and for the most part, one of the state’s best scorers will be the one leading the way. But Renton was quick to double and try to trap Whitaker. But his ability to pass and keep the offense moving was worthy of praise from Parker.

“I was extremely proud of Jackson. He didn’t have his best game, maybe his worst game, but his voice, handling the ball and rebounding kept the momentum. Overall that’s a big step forward,” Parker said.

Whitaker will continue to garner the most attention because he has the ability to score seemingly at will on a regular basis. But when it’s not Whitaker’s night, Burley and Chin are there to cause even more problems for defenders.

“With people keying on Jackson, Mason and or Tyson are going to have opportunities. Tyson made the most of his opportunities tonight and without him we don’t win,” Parker said.

In the second half, Renton got some rhythm going on offense, thanks to Luok and Isaac Elegin making some big shots for the Redhawks. The lead was down to two points, but Liberty found a way to pull away with some big shots coming from Whitaker at the free throw line.

“He’s a great player. No matter what he is doing he’s always going to have people on him. He is always selfless, making plays here and there. I bet he made five or ten winning plays in the fourth quarter to help us get that win,” Burley said.

Renton scored just 11 points in the fourth quarter while Liberty extended their 42-26 lead heading into the final frame. Liberty got two points from Royce Rowe, three from Whitaker and Mason Miller, and four from Chin to put the game on ice.

“When we look in the mirror tonight, we should feel like we took a big step in the right direction to come out with this one the way we did,” Parker said.

Defensively Liberty has now held three opponents to under 50 points this season, which will win a lot of games for the Patriots this season.

Renton on the other side showed they are vulnerable, and they have been victims of a difficult schedule. But Renton is suffering from turnovers and just shots not falling often enough to overcome this brutal stretch of games.

“Renton is a very, very good basketball team that is going to win a lot of basketball games this year,” Parker said.

Liberty then went on to beat Bothell on Dec. 15 and score a year high of 94 points in a 94-88 win.