By: Nate Calvin
sports@thevillagereporter.com
LIBERTY CENTER (February 1, 2024) – On paper, Thursday night’s Liberty Center-Bryan matchup had all the ingredients to be a classic.
Both teams had identical 15-1 overall records, and both were 3-0 in the NWOAL. Both teams were state ranked in their respective divisions and both teams’ lineup featured five seniors. But that’s why they play the games.
Bryan overwhelmed the Tigers and silenced the LC home faithful thanks to 50% percent shooting in the first half and 14 Liberty Center turnovers to take a 33-11 halftime lead on their way to a 41-26 win.
Kailee Thiel started the dominant first half for the Golden Bears with a free throw and then a bucket inside before Marah Smith hit a baseline jumper to make it 5-0 at the 6:13 mark of the first quarter.
The run continued after a Tiger timeout as Ella Voigt hit from the right baseline, sophomore Josey Arnold was 2/2 at the line and Ella Rau had consecutive field goals, the last one a steal and layup, to push the lead to 13-0 and force another Liberty Center timeout at the 1:56 mark.
The lead ballooned to 17-0 after a Thiel bucket inside and an Arnold layup on a run out before the Tigers finally were able to crack the scoreboard on basket down low by Kailey Blanton.
Bryan would get the last five points of the corner as Arnold buried a corner triple, giving her seven points in the opening frame, and Voigt made a pair of free throws to give Bryan a 22-2 lead after one quarter.
The Bryan dominance continued as they started the second quarter on an 8-0 run as Thiel scored again, Anna Gray went the distance for a layup after another Tiger turnover, Rau added her third bucket of the first half, and Thiel put back her own miss to make it 30-2 Bryan.
Liberty Center would take advantage of mounting foul trouble for Bryan to put together a 9-3 spurt to end the half by going 5/6 at the free throw line and field goals from Molly Perry and Bea Barrett to cut the lead to 33-11.
Liberty Center’s Eme Gray scored a quick five points to open the third for the Tigers as she buried a triple from the right wing and then would go coast-to-coast for a layup to make 33-16.
The Tigers continued to chip away at the lead as Gray scored on a drive and Gracie Miller added a layup to cut what was once a 28-point lead down to 14 at 34-20.
After a 1/2 trip to the charity stripe by Arnold, she would then hit a runner in the lane for Bryan’s only field goal (1/14 in quarter) of the third quarter for a 37-20 lead heading to the fourth.
A Thiel bucket off a set play made it 39-20 in the early stages of the final frame and that wound up being the Golden Bears’ last field goal of the night as they would go just 2/20 from the floor in the second half after a 13/26 performance in the opening 16 minutes.
The Tigers managed to score six unanswered points to trim the lead to 39-26 but that was as close as they could get after falling behind in the first half.
Arnold finished with 15 points to lead all scorers and Thiel added 12 for Bryan (16-1, 4-0 NWOAL). After nine points in the second half, Gray ended the night with 12 for the Tigers (15-2, 3-1 NWOAL).
BRYAN (41) – Zimmerman 0; Thiel 12; Voigt 4; Gray 2; Brown 0; Rau 6; Smith 2; Arnold 15; Totals: 13-2-9 – 41
L. CENTER (26) – Gray 12; Mohler 2; Keller 2; Perry 2; Miller 2; Barrett 2; Blanton 4; Totals: 9-1-5 – 26
BRYAN 22 11 4 4 – 41
L. CENTER 2 9 9 6 – 26
GAME STATISTICS
BRYAN: FG – 15/46 (32%); FT – 9/15 (60%); Rebounds – 29 (7 offensive); Turnovers – 15; L. CENTER – FG – 10/38 (26%); FT – 5/8 (62%); Rebounds – 21 (5 offensive); Turnovers – 19
JUNIOR VARSITY: Liberty Center 40, Bryan 25