Patriot girls fall in holiday tournament to North Thurston

Ella Whitaker had 14 of the 30 points Liberty scored.

By Benjamin Ray • January 6, 2025 3:28 pm

Heading into their holiday tournament, the Liberty Patriots girls basketball team knew they had a steep hill to climb. But Head Coach Travis Whitaker’s side took the challenge head on.

The Patriots opened up play on Jan. 3 against 2023 state tournament qualifier North Thurston at Auburn High School.

“I just wanted us to compete… I look at it as a growth opportunity,” Whitaker said.

Liberty’s challenge was that they were without their starting backcourt pairing of the Tran sisters of Addison and Aleah. Senior Luci Lujan, a key role player who can be a catalyst on the court, was also not active for the Patriots.

“Missing our backcourt was hard. We were a little nervous about that. I thought they competed hard though. They played to the final buzzer. That’s all I can ask,” Whitaker said.

So far this season, the Patriots are off to a great start. But in the game against North Thurston, the Rams dismantled Liberty with a 54-30 win. There were not too many down faces outside of the Patriot locker room because as a collective, that wasn’t the same team that went 8-1 to start the season.

With three players out of the game, the Patriots were limited to eight players. But it gave players who hadn’t received much varsity playing time valuable experience against a high-quality team.

“I think it is important for them to see the speed of the game and pace of the game. Some of the things you can get away with on JV, you can’t on varsity,” said Whitaker.

In the first half of the game, it was clear Liberty was going to struggle on the offensive side of the floor. North Thurston scored the first 11 points of the game, and over that span, didn’t even take a shot on the offensive side of the floor.

Liberty made four shots in the first half, all three-pointers. Ella Whitaker had a pair along with Chelsea Irvine and Patricia Collins, who each made one.

“We devote every Monday to skill work and a lot of shooting. We don’t really have the size to play the inside out game. We have to figure it out in other ways. Sometimes games like this call upon you to shoot a lot of threes. I wish we had shot it a little better today,” Whitaker said.

Ella Whitaker scored eight points in the third quarter, but by the end of that frame, Liberty trailed 44-24.

Liberty faced Evergreen (Vancouver) on Jan. 4 following the loss to North Thurston. The Patriots fell to the Plainsmen, 66-63, at Auburn High School.

“They knew the challenge we were up against. Anytime you are missing starters, it is tough. To miss two backcourt players, it makes it even tougher. For the roles they play for us, we don’t have plug and play kids that do the same stuff,” said Whitaker.