The Liberty Patriots boys basketball team this weekend battled the North Kitsap Vikings to a double-overtime thriller in the championship game of the 2A district tournament, but ultimately fell just short, losing 76-68.

North Kitsap outscored the Patriots 8-0 in the final overtime to seal the game.

Liberty’s Noble Cooper led all scorers with 27 points in the loss.

The game was a tight, back-and-forth affair from the jump. Liberty took the first period by a score of 17-15, but North Kitsap refused to go away and the teams headed to halftime knotted at 29-29.

The second half went just the opposite, with North Kitsap taking a 1-point lead to the fourth, but Liberty rallying to win the final frame, sending the teams into OT locked at 61-61.

The teams traded blows in the first OT, each scoring 7 points, but in the second overtime, North Kitsap pulled away, dropping in 8 points while clamping down on defense to prevent Liberty from scoring.

With the loss, Liberty moves into the regional tournament as the No. 2 seed from our district. They will play Lynden in a loser-out game at 4 p.m. Saturday at Renton High School. The winner heads to the state tournament.