Gallery by Tina Laney
Adam Drennen has had some solid games against Independence.
The Liberty senior saved his best performance for the final meeting against his county rival.
Dominating the paint all night, Drennen poured in 30 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to lead Liberty to an 84-37 win Monday.
“Independence has always been one of our big rivals. The last few years we have struggled to beat them,” Drennen said. “To come out here and beat them by this much means a lot to me.”
A slow start by the Raiders allowed Independence to take a 3-0 lead, but with 5:31 to play in the first quarter, Liberty started heat up from deep.
Back-to-back triples from Ethan Williams and Adam McGhee gave Liberty its first lead and the Raiders never trailed the remainder of the night.
“The boys were all on the same page tonight. I told them if we would have had the guys we play all on the same page like tonight and putting out that kind of effort, our record would be a lot better than what it is right now,” Liberty head coach Chad Williams said.
Three more bombs from Williams and four points from Drennen gave the home team a 10-point lead after the first eight minutes.
The next eight minutes were a total nightmare for the Patriots.
After bucket from Cyrus Goodson cut the lead inside double digits for the final time, McGhee took his turn in the spotlight.
The senior guard scored on a spin move inside before he knifed through the lane for an up-and-under reverse layup.
McGhee then made it six in a row on a floater in the lane and followed his scoring spurt with an assist to Drennen for another score.
A couple of baskets for Independence stopped the 10-0 run briefly, but Liberty’s pressure defense sent it on a 14-0 run to end the half.
“We work every single day at practice on defensive assignments and helping in-gap. It really showed tonight,” Williams said. “We have played two or three quarters like that, but we have never really had it for a full game like we did tonight.”
A long ball from McGhee ignited the run which was followed by a nice dime from Williams. Instead of taking a contested 3-pointer, Williams drove past the defender, dropping the pass over his head to Zach Bowman in the corner.
Bowman converted the assist into the first of his two long balls in the quarter. Drennen scored a bucket in between the 3’s and converted a stickback at the one minute mark for a 43-15 halftime lead.
“At the beginning of the year, we really struggled to figure out an identity. We put a lot of emphasis on guarding the best two kids on the other team and sharing the ball,” Williams said. “There is going to be a mismatch somewhere on the floor. Tonight we found it every single time there was a mismatch.”
Liberty scored the first eight points of the second half and led 68-23 after three quarters of play.
“One of the timeouts I called tonight was because the defensive intensity left. I told them we don’t look at the scoreboard. I don’t care what the scoreboard says, we are still going to play with the same type of intensity that we did in the first half,” Williams said.
The Raiders, in cooperation with Independence head coach Mike Green, honored A.J. Williams off the opening tip Monday.
Williams went down with a season-ending knee injury prior to the start of the regular season.
Drennen tipped the initial toss to his longtime teammate who was still aided by crutches while standing on the court.
“I loved seeing A.J. out there. I wish he could have been with us all year. He is a really good buddy of mine and I have always enjoyed playing with him,” Drennen said.
Ethan Williams scored 18 on the night and McGhee had 16. Jordan James led the Patriots with 17 and Goodson had 12. Logan Phalin grabbed 15 rebounds for Indy.
“I think the way we played tonight had a lot to do with the way we recognized A.J. before the game, along with being against a county rival which really turned up the intensity. They were definitely on their game tonight,” Williams said.
I: 9 7 7 14 – 37
L: 19 24 25 16 – 84
Independence
Jordan James 17, Cyrus Goodson 12, Corey Shumate 1, Logan Phalin 5, Camron Vandel 2. Totals: 13 5-10 37.
Liberty
Adam McGhee 16, Adam Drennen 30, Zach Bowman 9, Ethan Williams 18, Rasean Simms 5, Jaden Acord 2, Conner Cantley 4. Totals: 34 6-10 84.
3-pointers – I: 6 (James 5, Phalin); 9 (McGhee 2, Bowman, Williams 6).
