By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
LIBERTY CENTER (February 27, 2024) – The Tigers combination of depth and full-court pressure defense wore down the No. 12 seed Bulldogs in a 44-32 sectional semifinal at Liberty Center on Tuesday night.
Liberty Center forced 16 Swanton miscues in the first half and 26 on the night as they built a 13-point halftime lead which they maintained in the second despite some offensive struggles.
Swanton’s 6’9” Charlie Wood broke the ice with a layup before a 5-0 spurt by the Tigers gave them the lead and saw Wood pick up his second personal foul, just 2 1/2 minutes into the contest.
The Bulldogs answered with a 6-0 run starting with Wood going 1/2 at the line, Logan Young knocked down a triple from the left side, and Wood scored on an offensive rebound to give Swanton an 8-5 lead.
Gavin Geahlen would score five straight of his own for the Tigers with three ball and two free throws to put the Tigers ahead 10-8 but Brady O’Shea buried one from deep on the right wing to give Swanton the lead back at 11-10.
Liberty Center would score the last four points of the quarter as Cam Robinson scored on a drive and Landen Kruse had a steal and layup to increase the lead to 14-11.
Wood and Landen Kruse exchanged field goals to open the second quarter before the Tigers hit Swanton with a 7-0 spurt.
The Tigers would get a quick five points off back-to-back turnovers by Swanton and Grady Miller scored on a drive to make it 23-13.
A Young field goal for Swanton stopped the run, but the Tigers would then drop eight straight points as Robinson hit a trey from the top of the key and then a two-pointer before Geahlen turned in a three-point play off an offensive rebound to make it 31-15.
Swanton’s Isaiah Bolyard banked in a triple from the right wing just before the buzzer to trim the Tigers lead to 31-18 at halftime.
The scoring was at a snail’s pace for a large portion of the third quarter with the teams combining to go 4/23 from the field and 10 turnovers in the quarter.
An exchange of turnovers and triples at the end of the third stopped any momentum Swanton seemed to be building.
O’Shea drilled a triple to cut the lead to 33-25 and that was followed by a Tiger turnover with seconds remaining in the quarter.
Swanton (7-15) though would turn the ball back over in the backcourt and Max Walker connected on a triple from the left wing for Liberty Center at the buzzer, their only field goal of the frame, to make it 36-25 heading to the fourth.
Walker started the fourth with a bucket, but Wood and Adam Lemon had baskets for Swanton to cut the lead back to single digits at 38-29.
The Tigers closed the game out thanks to a 6-1 run aided by a Colten Kruse bucket and Walker’s second triple of the half as the advantage ballooned to 44-30.
Geahlen led all scorers with 13 points, 11 in the first half, and Robinson registered 11, all in the first half. Wood notched 11 for the Bulldogs.
No. 4 Liberty Center (16-7) will host No. 6 Eastwood (14-9) in a sectional final on Friday night.
SWANTON (32) – O’Shea 7; Young 5; Ruiz 0; Mitchey 0; Koder 0; Rico 0; Bolyard 3; Carrizales 0; Nofziger 0; Lemon 4; Wood 11; Mersing 2; Totals: 9-4-2 – 32
LIBERTY CENTER (44) – Garber 0; Miller 2; C. Kruse 3; T. Kruse 0; L. Kruse 7; Walker 8; Robinson 11; Geahlen 13; Wilhelm 0; Totals: 11-4-10 – 44
SWANTON 11 7 7 7 – 32
LIBERTY CENTER 14 17 5 8 – 44
GAME STATISTICS
SWANTON: FG – 13/34 (38%); FT – 2/8 (25%); Rebounds – 32 (5 offensive); Turnovers – 26; LIBERTY CENTER: FG – 15/53 (28%); FT – 10/13 (76%); Rebounds – 19 (5 offensive); Turnovers – 12
