Liberty boys make Tacoma Dome debut, fall to Bellevue

Liberty made its first appearance at the Tacoma Dome in school history on March 5, taking on a familiar foe in the Round of 12. The first trip to a final site since 2019 (Yakima Valley SunDome) didn’t phase the Patriots.

“I really couldn’t be prouder of the way we responded. The game was clearly the game, we put our best foot forward. The stage was not in any way too big for our coaches and players,” Head Coach Omar Parker said.

For the fourth time this season, Liberty faced the blue and yellow of Bellevue High School. In the three previous meetings Bellevue has won all three and the fourth meeting was the most important of them all.

Liberty was forced to be Sisyphus and continued to push the boulder up the mountain against the Wolverines, just for it to roll back down as their trip to Tacoma lasted one day in a 52-44 loss to Bellevue. “We changed our game plan a little bit, but to be honest a lot of the reason of changing our game plan was to instill belief. We had been beaten three times and we needed to get over the hump… We had to shift our mindset a little bit,” Parker said.

His players echoed the same message. “There was no fear, Bellevue just had the better game apparently,” Hansen Fan said.

The Patriots took it right to the Wolverines from the get-go. Fueled by five different point scorers, Liberty took a 17-6 lead over Bellevue at the end of the first quarter.

“You can’t teach bravery, but we needed to have our kids believe and I think we were able to do that,” Parker said

All the momentum that Liberty built in the first quarter went by the wayside as they were able to score just eight points in the second quarter. The two teams went into the locker room tied at 24.

Some big momentum swings in the first half came on the Liberty defensive side of the floor where at one point, Tyson Burley took three straight charges. That was an emphasis for the Patriots and a spot in the game where they saw an advantage.

“We talked about hunting charges. We wanted to dominate the paint, defense wasn’t the problem tonight. We did a great job guarding them as a team,” Parker said.

Despite the slow second quarter, there was a lot for Liberty to be happy with. In the first half, Liberty shot towards the open side of the floor. Of the seven games on the court prior to the Patriots, Liberty had the second-best shooting percentage to that side at 41% (Richland 44%).

“I don’t put much into it to be honest. It’s a hoop, it’s 10 feet and the three-point line is the same distance,” Parker said.

In the third quarter the two sides traded blows. Jackson Whitaker was hitting his stride on the offensive side of the floor.

Liberty’s players have played together for a long time under the same youth program and they have all stuck together since. “We all grew up playing together ever since sixth or seventh grade, playing with Coach Rick. I remember all their little faces, I remember my little self. Seeing how much we’ve grown and to have the season end today is sad really,” Fan said.

The Patriots started the fourth quarter down 38-37 but quickly found themselves chasing the Wolverines. Liberty seemed to just run out of gas late in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t the first shot that killed the Patriots. It was the second and third opportunities at the basket that really hurt Liberty.

“The ball didn’t bounce our way off the rim and they were able to pull them down. We had a couple key mistakes on offense that resulted in turnovers… I wish we could have a couple possessions back and a couple rebounds would have gone our way,” Parker said.

Despite the trip only lasting one game, the standard has been set for Liberty basketball, and it was a special group to get the Patriots there. Isaac Roberts, Max Vermeulen, Hanen Fan all made an impact that can be taken forward.

“We talked a little bit about writing a story and I commended the seniors on writing a wonderful story. The hero coming back and beating the team that had beaten you three times would have been a little bit different,” Parker said.

It was important for Parker to thank his seniors, in an era where kids are being taken up by other schools, all of his players have been in the Liberty youth program since they were the young Patriots.

“Not only did I commend our seniors, I thanked them. There are third fourth and fifth graders that got to experience this run and follow our story all year long. They furthered the importance and greatness of Liberty basketball is what I am most thankful for,” Parker said.