Liberty overcame a 12-point second half deficit and took its first lead of the game in overtime and the host Eagles went on to hand West Prairie a 56-55 defeat to end theCyclones’ 16-game winning streak Monday night.
Braden Coplan scored 13 of his game-high 40 points in the first quarter as West Prairie pulled away from a 2-2 tie to take its largest lead of the half at 9-2.
Ryan Clark had the only other basket in the period for the Cyclones who led 15-6 heading into the second quarter.
Liberty would begin to heat up as five different players would get into the scoring column in the second period.
The Eagles would close to within 20-18 before Coplan connected on consecutive treys to offset a three-point play by Liberty’s Reed Sparrow to send WPHS into the locker room with a 26-21 halftime advantage.
Back-to-back baskets from Sparrow to start the third quarter brought Liberty to within 26-25, but Coplan and Matt Whitman responded with consecutive three-pointers to extend the WPHS lead to 32-25.
Coplan would score the last seven points for the Cyclones in the quarter capped by a steal and layup to give West Prairie its largest lead of the night at 39-27.
The Eagles’ Tate Huber would score right before the buzzer to make it 39-29 going into the final period.
Liberty began to use its size advantage in the fourth quarter to wear down the Cyclones.
Sparrow led the way for the hosts by scoring 11 of Liberty’s 16 points over the final eight minutes. That included consecutive treys with the last three-pointer tying the game at 45-all with just over a minute remaining.
Both teams had opportunities to take the lead late but could not capitalize to send it into overtime.
The Eagles would take their first lead of the game when Vince Cramsey scored with 3:45 left in overtime to put Liberty up 47-45.
A three-pointer by Gavin Edgar made it 50-45 before Whitman scored to make it 50-47.
The WPHS defense held Liberty without another field goal but the Eagles converted on 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch.
A Coplan trey tied the game at 55-55 before Sparrow made one of two from the charity stripe to give Liberty a 56-55 lead with only 2.4 seconds remaining.
Following a timeout, West Prairie took the ball out underneath the Liberty basket. Whitman launched a full-court pass that ended up in the hands of Holden Coplan on the baseline, but his 15-footer was off the mark at the buzzer to end the game.
“We kind of knew this was going to be a challenge,” said West Prairie head coach Ian Conkling. “(Liberty’s) size offered its own challenges. They’ve got some pretty good players that've been in their system for a while and have a lot of experience. We played pretty good defensively for two quarters and held our own.”
“As the game got on, we made a few mistakes and they won it from the free throw line,” he added. “Overall, I’m proud of the group. That’s how we’re going to have to play down the stretch because we’ll be matched up against some pretty good teams.”
Along with Coplan’s 40-point outburst which included eight 3-pointers, Whitman finished with seven points while Ryan Clark and Eli DeCounter added six and two points respectively for the Cyclones, who saw their record fall to 21-5 for the season.
Sparrow led Liberty (12-9) with 28 points. The West Prairie junior varsity improved to 19-2 for the season with a 45-29 victory over Liberty.
Sophomore Gannon Shipman led the Cyclones with a game-high 20 points while Ivan Beck added 14.
Other scorers included Tyson Carnes and Ayden Lacey with six points each, Mason Whitman with five points, Holden Coplan had four points while Cam Melvin and Max French had two points apiece.
