Basketball: Liberty boys beat Hazen by 30

Many teams hope and dream to start their season fast and fill up the win column. Very few do, especially when they disregard the loss column.

Liberty is one of two KingCo teams that has an unbeaten record, and that record improved to 8-0 after an 82-52 win over Hazen on Dec. 19.

“We’re just super connected. We play really well together at practice, then during the games we do what we do in practice,” junior Odin Hatcher said.

The other undefeated team? Bellevue, which has played half as many games as the Patriots.

Since 1985, the Patriots have never started hotter. Their longest win streak to start a season is just two games, which has happened a handful of times. But to start out 8-0 is special, and the Patriots are relying on their experience early in the season that might give them an advantage.

“We are ahead of some teams that have less experience and it shows. Most of our baskets are coming off of passes, unselfish play, transition, some things that take a while to develop. We are developing at a different pace,” Head Coach Omar Parker said.

Earlier in the week, Liberty pulled off arguably the biggest upset in the state so far this year. The Patriots defeated 2024 4A state champs in Mount Si, 72-69, at home. Last season, no one was shocked at the Wildcats winning state — that’s how good they were. This year, Parker even believes they can win the whole thing again. But in their first meeting of the season, the Patriots got the better of Mount Si.

“I learned that we weren’t going to back down. We were going to compete. Our kids have enough history and tradition to believe that they belong too. Our kids do believe we are a championship level team too,” Parker said.

A win like that showed this Patriot team what they are capable of, and for the second straight season, Liberty knocked off a team with state tournament aspirations. Last season on Dec. 4 the Patriots defeated Bellevue in a similar fashion. The players attribute it to the home environment that the student section and band create.

“It’s always loud here, which is really helpful for us. We like playing against the best teams,” Hatcher said.

Against Hazen, the Patriots started off a bit slow, falling behind the Highlanders in the first couple minutes. But an 18-0 run to close out the first quarter put all the doubt of being upset to bed, leading 22-6.

Hazen may not have had a record over .500 since 2016, but the Highlanders are still seen as rivals for Liberty. It was important not to fade just because of the opponent, but rather to keep the same intensity no matter who has the different colored jersey. Especially in a rivalry game.

“If the kids can’t get up to play their oldest rival, then we’ve got issues. We really preached that,” Parker said.

In the second quarter, Hazen found some life, much due in part to Quincy Brown, who had 11 points in the half. But even with that performance, Liberty just kept it pushing. Tyson Burley and Isaac Roberts both had nine points in the half. That was a theme for the Patriots all game, and when all was said and done, they had ten different players record points.

“I would hope we have the ability to do that. We haven’t done that every game so far…To be able to win multiple ways whether it is ten guys or six guys scoring, it shows you’ve got a team that is going to do their best to find a way to win,” Parker said.

Standout junior Jackson Whitaker, who has had 40- and 39-point performances this season, didn’t score a single bucket in the first half of the game. The Patriots showed a diverse attack, that late in the season will no doubt help more than they know now. Whitaker did finish with 13 points, third highest of the team in the win over Hazen.

The most impressive performance of the night was that of Tyson Burley. The sophomore sharpshooter was on a tear against Hazen. Burley finished the night with eight made three-pointers, and he had multiple made threes in every quarter except the second.

“He’s just a shooter. He’s got that confidence,” Hatcher said.

Liberty gets on a bus and heads across the state to North Idaho College to take on Coeur d’Alene High School. The Vikings are going to challenge the Patriots on the floor.

“It’s a great experience with the teams going. We’re also playing a really good team. It’s going to be a great time,” Hatcher said.

That doesn’t happen everywhere and it is special for Parker to involve the entire program.

“Everybody that is in the program won’t play varsity basketball. But they’re going to get a chance to travel and experience a fun trip… The hope is fighting over the last piece of pizza and sharing hotel rooms and messing around on the bus brings us closer. So that as we start the new year, at the end of the season we are more together than we are today,” Parker said.