BOYS-

The Liberty Lancers, led by top scorer Chase Burnham started hot and kept the league throughout the game.  Tyler Haas played some serious defense and created some important turnovers, while pushing the ball up on offense and causing havoc on Springdale’s transition defense.  Keith Dumaw was a huge difference maker collecting rebounds at will and making a some tough inside finishes.  Springdale didn’t match the Lancers intensity overall as a team, the Lancers seemed to find every loose ball.  On Springdale’s side, they played hard and showed a lot of grit battling back from an early deficit but couldn’t get over the hump.  John Lynch “JL3”, the Charges unquestioned leader,  broke down the defense at will but teammates failed on numerous occasions to take advantage of the easy shots he created for them.  His defensive pressure was relentless and it was a welcomed improvement from the seasons passed.  Enoch Clemmer showed sparks on the offensive end making some timely buckets and Chandler Carr, although taking a while to get started, brought his “A” game in the 4th quarter leading a comeback attempt and scoring most of his points off of aggressive moves to the basket.

GIRLS-

The host Lancers, got off to an unimpressive slow start in this game but as the game went on the turned up the heat and ended with a comfortable lead.  Christine Denny played most of the first half deferring to her teammates but then it was like a lightning strike of steals and transition buckets!  Denny forced so many turnovers and spent the rest of the game weaving through defenders on the way to layups, over and over again.  She was absolutely unmatched as her skills are off the charts on the small school scene, we only wonder what she would be like in the “big city” of Spokane!  Madelynne Flaig, another junior star for Liberty has a very hard-nosed demeanor and battles for everything position, loose balls, cutting lanes….  For Springdale ladies, I was really impressed with Elish Smith’s game.  I did see her last year but I don’t remember falling in love with her game like tonight.  This kid is a true baller!  See can go both ways, drops threes, has great awareness of the game and can really zip some passes.  Nicole Beckman, the 6-footer in the Post plays very well using her body and aggressiveness to get position and actually uses her height to her advantage.  She also seems to love setting screens, which was a nice feature of her game as a true BIG.

 

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