Liberty Hands Lewis-Palmer Its First Loss of the Season 71-58
By Jon Miller
1/21/2018
Monument, CO – The Lewis-Palmer boys basketball team has rarely been challenged all season. So far this season, only two of their thirteen victories came by single digits. Saturday night, the Rangers ran into a buzz saw in Sean Bohuslavsky and the Liberty Lancers. Bohuslavsky scored 21 of his game high 28 points in the second half as the Lancers handed Lewis-Palmer its first defeat of the season 71-58.
“We just tried to play better defense. During this season, we have not been playing very good defense, so we wanted to bring it on our defensive end so it leads into our offensive game.” Bohuslavsky said.
Typically it’s Lewis-Palmer that pulls away from their opponents but it was Liberty’s defense that held the Rangers in check. The Rangers are known for excellent ball movement that results into open shots but Liberty limited these looks. The Lancers speed on defense allowed very few open looks and harassed the Rangers all game.
This was especially evident in the second quarter.
Trailing 12-11 after the first quarter, Dailin Smith put the Lancers on his shoulders in the second. The junior scored 11 of the Lancers 19 second quarter points as Liberty outscored the Rangers 19-7 to take a 30-19 lead into the break. Joel Scott and Matthew Ragsdale combined for 16 of Lewis-Palmers 19 first half points.
“It’s zero-zero at halftime, we still have 16 minutes, and we have to continue to do what we did in the first half.” Liberty coach Ivan Chambers told his team at the break.
Matthew Ragsdale’s three pointer cut the lead to seven 37-30 in the third quarter, but every punch the Lancers received, they returned as they extended their lead to 46-35 after three.
The Rangers again cut the double digit lead back to seven after a Salim Nehme basket, that’s when Bohuslavsky heated up. The junior scored 11 straight points for Lancers, hitting three straight three pointers from the corner and ended his scoring streak with a layup to extend the Lancers lead to 61-48 midway through the final period.
“They started pressing at the end and I just trust my teammates with the ball. They found me in the corner. They just found me wherever I was and I shot it with confidence.” Bohuslavsky added.
The Lancers lead got as high as 15 late in the final period on its way to the 71-58 win.
Entering the game against the top team in 4A, Liberty coach Ivan Chambers had the confidence in his team could do what nobody else could so far this season; leave with the win.
“We were going to take them man until that did not work and it worked the whole game. Only went to a zone a couple of times. They had a some kids knock down some outside shots so we made sure we did a better job taking care of the perimeter and limit Joel (Scott) to what he was able to do.” Chambers said
“Coming in, Lewis-Palmer snuck up to #3 in Max Preps and we played well against Rock Canyon so there is not a team in this state that we can’t compete with and can’t beat.” Chambers added of his team’s confidence.
The Lancers quickness was a matchup problem from the beginning for the Rangers.
“They have five guys on the floor that can put the ball on the floor, penetrate by you, and shoot it. That is probably a team that is a hard matchup for anybody. We knew that this was a going to be a game that we had to come ready to play and they just outworked us. They took their level of aggression out on the defensive end and took us out of what we wanted to do on the offensive end.” Lewis-Palmer Coach Bill Benton said of Liberty.
“I was still proud of them, they never quit. We have to figure out a way to be consistent but I am still proud of them.” Benton told his team after the loss.
Sean Bohuslavsky led Liberty with 28 points and Dalin Smith added 15.
Matthew Ragsdale led Lewis-Palmer with 21 points and Joel Scots added 15.
