The Liberty High School boys basketball team battled Bellevue High School in a thrilling home game Dec. 4.

On paper, Bellevue was the heavy favorite, coming off a fourth-in-state year last year and coming off an undefeated KingCo season.

In dramatic fashion, the Patriots rose to the occasion and beat the Wolverines by a score of 80-73.

“I’m just thrilled for our guys. They gave everything tonight,” said Head Coach Omar Parker.

What got the Patriots going? Their head coach, according to sophomore Jackson Whitaker: “He hyped us up for the game, we did what we had to do.”

Liberty led before the first second ticked off the clock because of a technical foul on Bellevue, which granted senior Denali Hatcher two free throws — he made one, giving Liberty the lead.

Denali Hatcher shows a lot of emotion after a Bellevue time out. Ben Ray / The Reporter

“The win means more because no one really believed in us to win the game. But you know threes are worth more than twos and that’s how we were shooting it tonight,” Hatcher said.

The Patriots lost 2022 3A KingCo MVP Ryan Gallagher, who graduated at the end of last season. But those shoes have been filled by Jackson Whitaker, who shined on the big stage, leaving with 34 points via 10 three-pointers against the Wolverines. What surprised his coach was that he wasn’t pressing for points — Whitaker let the game come to him.

“He scored 34 tonight and had a great shooting night, but they were coming out of the offense. He was working off the ball to get free, created a few of his own. But it wasn’t a selfish 34 points, it was a team-oriented 34 points,” Coach Parker said on Whitaker’s performance.

Whitaker’s teammates found him when he was rolling, and he kept it rolling.

“Credit to his teammates, once he started getting the hot hand, they found him. I’m really proud of them for doing that,” Parker said.

Jackson Whitaker shows a lot of emotion in the fourth quarter against the Wolverines. Ben Ray / The Reporter

His teammates know that he is that volume scorer: “Everybody already knows, shoot as many times as you like. He’s going to hit shots when you give it to him. It’s pretty amazing how he shoots it from that deep,” Hatcher said.

Whitaker gave credit to his dad, Travis, who is the head girls coach at Liberty.

“I gotta give credit to my dad. He gets me up every morning at 6-7 a.m. to put up shots. I just gotta thank my dad,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker also gave credit to the environment for giving Liberty a boost in momentum to make run after run against Bellevue.

“The bench and the student section (helped us stay in the game). The student section was awesome, there was tons of energy in the gym tonight,” he said.

Bellevue, however, would surge and take control of arguably 80 percent of the basketball game. But the Patriots hung around thanks in part to their hot three-point shooting. In the first half, the Patriots drained eight three-pointers and nine in the second half.

“We just trusted each other and trusted what we do and stayed committed on the offensive end getting great shots. We just kept guarding them and battled through,” Parker said.

Hansen Fan played a huge role for the Patriots in the win over Bellevue. Photo from Kaeven Sahota

At the end of every quarter, the Patriots trailed by an average of six points, just two possessions behind the Wolverines.

“We had to adjust. The athleticism those guys have is pretty phenomenal, but we caught up to that speed in the second half,” Parker said.

The Patriots were fueled by their offense. A 30-point fourth quarter is nothing to sneeze at, but the rebounding and defense gave the Wolverines fits. A big part of that prolific quarter was Denali Hatcher.

“He can take total control of a game with his speed and ball handling. He has been (on varsity) since he was a sophomore. Now he’s a senior and has really been stepping up and doing exactly what we’re asking,” Parker said.

Liberty tied the game at the start of an 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter, taking the lead 69-61.

“We had so much confidence. The ball was going in every single time we were getting it,” Whitaker said.

Tyson Burley is in his freshman year and got valuable minutes in a huge situation in just his fourth career game.

“You mature quickly when you’re playing dudes that are two-three years older than you. He already has that stillness and calm about him. When you put him on the court he’s able to flourish and make those plays that veterans are also making,” Hatcher said.

The win is up there with one of the better regular season wins that the Liberty’s boys program has had. There were murmurs among the Bellevue players when the game was out of reach: “We just lost to Liberty guys, think about it.”

“Anytime you can beat Bellevue, it’s going to be a great win. We’re 2-0 in conference and to have that quick start in conference play as we go for a conference championship is obviously great,” Parker said.

“We just have to believe that we can beat anybody. Like I said, threes are more than twos, and if we keep shooting it like that, we can beat anybody,” Hatcher said.