NEWARK, Ohio -- After upsetting Grandview Heights a couple week back, Liberty Union had gone four games without a win heading into Friday’s matchup against Licking Valley. 

The Lions led or were tied for the entire game but it remained close until the final buzzer. Controlling the game defensively allowed the Lions to counteract their few cold streaks they had during the game. Licking Valley rallied multiple times to attempt a comeback but Liberty Union pulled away at the end of the game, winning 67-59.

At the beginning of the first quarter both teams started out slow. Jared Ison broke the ice for the Lions, scoring the first four points. 

Liberty Union began to play to their strengths and hounded Licking Valley defensively, allowing for sophomore Jacob Denney to create his own 8-0 run to end the first quarter. With Denney abusing the Licking Valley defense, the Lions took a 16-8 lead into the second.

Junior Jacob Berlekamp scored a quick four points at the beginning of the second quarter, stretching the lead to 20-8 as it began to look like the Lions would pull away quickly. With everything looking clean for Liberty Union, a wet spot on the court caused Denney to slip and fall, twisting his ankle and coming off the floor for most of the second quarter. 

Carson Conley took immediate advantage of this, driving twice and coming up with a pair of free throws both times. Conley went on to hit a mid range jumper and a three-pointer to tie it up at half 28-28.

Denney took the court once again, starting the second half with another scoring run of 6-0 in the first three minutes. Kalib Riddle then took over the offensive end, getting five points of his own from free throws and a transition bucket. 

Off of the success of the Lion’s big men, they took a 43-35 lead with 3:18 remaining in the third. The streak then went ice cold for the Lions when Riddle came out as Licking Valley worked the inside while the Lions were playing a smaller lineup and pulled the score to 47-42.

The fourth was once again a time for Conley and Denney to shine.

Starting the fourth with a quick three-pointer, Conley brought the Panthers within two. With one last attempt to get the game back within reach, Conley got his last bucket of the game, bringing the score to 62-57. The Lion’s big men, sophomores Kalib Riddle and Jacob Denney, ended it on free throws to seal this one.

Jacob Denney (6’6 PF/ Liberty Union / 2022): Denney started the game and ended the game looking like the best player on the court. Abusing the Licking Valley defense, Denney got eight consecutive points in the paint largely due to second chance opportunities he created. If Denney had not had to come out of the game due to injury in the second quarter, he was looking like he would have gone off for a monster scoring game. Even with the injury, Denney got himself 21 points all from inside the arc. Liberty Union benefited immensely from his presence on the court on defense. Paired beside Riddle, they stopped nearly everything that entered the paint when playing together.

Kalib Riddle (6’4 PF / Liberty Union / 2022): Riddle was the second necessary half of the Liberty Union duo in order to win the game. Riddle has become a consistent source of rebounds for Liberty Union, especially on offense. With Riddle's paint presence, the Lions locked down defensively while having peace of mind that their backs were covered in the paint. While only going for 11 points, Riddle provided so much more than what showed up on the stat sheet. Without him or Denney on the court, the Lions would have had no consistency on defense.

Carson Conley (6’2 WG / Licking Valley / 2020): Through the offensive woes for Licking Valley, Conley shone through the mishaps. Conley shot well from behind the arc and was almost all of Licking Valley’s scoring in the fourth quarter. After falling behind in the second and fourth quarters, Conley was always expected to break the cold streak. That he did, putting up 11 in the fourth quarter and 23 on the game. Unfortunately, Conley’s strong night could not keep the Panthers in it, although he gave his best efforts. The senior has been a mainstay on the all-Licking County League conference teams for his entire career and will look to bounce back on Monday when the Panthers host Philo.