Liberty Boys Beat Pottsville; Allen Next

Two contrasting styles of basketball took to the court at Parkland High School Wednesday night with a trip to the District 11 4A boys final on the line.

Second-seeded Liberty, the Lehigh Valley Conference champion, with its run-and-gun, quick strike offense faced third-seeded Schuylkill League winner Pottsville with a very slow and deliberate game.

“We had ambitions of running the court against them and speeding the game up, said Liberty head coach Chad Landis. “They’re a physical team and you’d better play defense against them."

The Hurricanes defense, led by a stellar effort by senior Alewdy Rivera, limited high-scoring senior Nick Schlitzer to 12 points and earned a trip to Saturday’s 4A final with a 41-30 victory over the Crimson Tide.

They’ll face Allen High School, who was a 59-49 winner over Pocono Mountain West in the second half of the semifinal doubleheader. The championship game will take place Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Parkland High School.

The Hurricanes beat Allen twice during the regular LVC season, each by time one point.

Liberty (22-4) automatically qualifies for the PIAA tournament just by reaching the D-11 final, but coach Chad Landis wants the gold medal for a team that’s reached this plateau three of the last four seasons.

“Every year, the goals are to make the LVC final and the District 11 final,” Landis said. “Once you get there, you hope you play a good game rather than a bad one.”

Landis and the capacity crowd on hand may have known it was going to be the Hurricanes' night when Alex Akabogu put up a prayer of a three-point shot just before the first quarter buzzer.

The ball clanked high off the front rim, off the glass, back off the rim and through the net to give Liberty a 9-4 lead, capping what was a closely-contested first quarter.

“Sometimes, it’s one of those bounce that goes for you or against you,” Landis said.

From there, Liberty’s defense went to work, limiting Schlitzer and the Crimson Tide offense using zones mixed in with full-court pressure.

“We ran our doubles on them and we were OK with that,” said Landis, crediting the play of senior Alewdy Rivera who came off the bench to score 10 points and provide defensive help.

“We leaned on our seniors all year and Alex was effective tonight,” Landis said.

Liberty took a 19-11 lead into the intermission and took it Pottsville (22-2) in the third quarter, opening up their biggest lead of the game when Greg Noack hit a jumper at the buzzer to open up a 31-19 edge.

Pottsville tried to make a fourth quarter run, but couldn’t keep an offensive attack sustained. They’ll face Pocono Mountain West in the consolation game with the winner also earning a PIAA berth.

POTTSVILLE (30)

Bobby Schappel 2 0-0 6, Tyler Heffner 0 0-0 0, Ryan Coyle 0 0-0 0, Casey Guers 1 2-2 5, Nick Schlitzer 4 2-2 12, Brandon Bridy 3 0-1 7, S. Thomas 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 4-5 30.

LIBERTY (41)

Izel Dickerson 3 0-0 6, Pat Donnelly 1 0-0 3, Chevon Williams 0 0-0 0, Greg Noack 1 1-2 3, Alewdy Rivera 4 0-0 10, Alex Akabogu 1 0-0 3, Darrun Hilliard 3 4-6 10. Totals: 15 7-10 41.

Pottsville – 4  7 8 11 – 30

Liberty – 9 10 12 10 – 41

Officials: Bill Murphy, Jack Keiter and Bill McGinley

Fouled Out: None

3-Point Goals: Pottsvile: Schappel (2), Guers, Schlitzer (2), Bridy; Liberty: Donnelly, Rivera (2), Akabogu.