Over the last three seasons, Bellevue has not been kind to the Liberty Patriots. Call it luck, skill or domination, the Wolverines have found ways to close out basketball games consistently and that trend continued on Feb. 11 in the KingCo 3A championship game.
Bellevue finished strong in overtime, beating Liberty for the seventh straight time dating back to 2023, 72-66 at Renton High School on Feb. 11.
“I don’t know that we handle the game any different. There were a lot of positives that came out and a lot of things we didn’t do well and need to do better going forward. It’s a constant progression of us trying to get better. The only difference between now and November is the window is shorter,” head coach Omar Parker said.
Since 2023, Liberty has a combined win-loss record of 49-16 against opponents not named Bellevue. Against Bellevue, Liberty is a brutal 1-8 following the most recent loss in the KingCo championship.
It’s safe to say Bellevue has the Patriots’ number, but on a Wednesday night, in the waning moments of regulation, Liberty looked to break the curse. But once overtime began, Liberty ran out of gas. Bellevue held Jackson Whitaker to just three points in overtime and kept Mason Chin off the scoreboard entirely in the final quarter.
Elijah Nordland makes a pass for Liberty against Bellevue. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Liberty seemed to have a divine intervention as the Wolverines blew a 10-point lead with 2:18 left in the game. The Patriots needed all 2:18 on the clock as with 50 seconds left. Mason Chin hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two, 59-57. After a charge was drawn by Elijah Nordland, Liberty took possession needing two to tie the game with 20 seconds on the clock.
The entire gym knew that the ball was going to be in the hands of Jackson Whitaker and the senior delivered. Whitaker fought through three Bellevue defenders before finding space leading to the basket to lay-in the game tying bucket.
“I’m not sure we played our best in the first 28 minutes, but the last four were pretty cool,” Parker said.
Whitaker finished the game with a game high 31 points, with eight coming in the fourth quarter. But the run from Chin in the fourth with 11 points was the jolt of life in the comeback.
“There were some things we did to create some matchups. Bellevue switches and plays a lot of guys on different people, to find those mismatches was able to open those guys up. We did a good job of that in the end, but the game plan didn’t change from yesterday,” Parker said.
Liberty at its best is a three point shooting team, with Chin, Whitaker and Tyson Burley being a trio that can shoot extremely well. But against Bellevue, Liberty shot 4 for 26 from three point land. Combine that with Connor Mayer and Tyson Burley fouling out in the fourth quarter, and Liberty was behind the eight ball.
But with the Patriots getting to overtime, overcoming a 10-point deficit in the final two minutes and shooting that poorly, the Patriots have a lot to build on as the postseason continues.
Tyson Burley takes a 3-pointer for Liberty against Bellevue. Ben Ray / The Reporter
“We didn’t shoot it particularly well. It’s tough to win that way if you’re going to take Bellevue to an overtime game, a team of that caliber, on a poor shooting night. There is a lot of positive to put your arms around,” Parker said.
Winning the KingCo tournament meant Liberty would have been the No. 2 seed in the District 2 tournament and would play the winner of Metro No. 7 and Metro No. 5. Instead, the Patriots are awaiting the winner of Seattle Prep and Eastside Catholic, who will play the lowest seeded Metro team before taking on Liberty in the second round of districts.
“I’m super excited for our guys. If you would have told me at the start of the year that we would have an opportunity be one game away from the state tournament, I would have taken it,” Parker said.
Liberty will play on Feb. 17 at Bellevue College at 5 p.m.
