Article published on March 10, 2012 by stlhighschoolsports.com
Both coaches used the same word to describe the feeling at the onset of the Class 4 boys third-place game Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
Hangover.
Liberty North and Imagine were coming off tough semifinal losses on Friday, but both eventually were able to shake it off long enough to play a thrilling overtime game, won by the Eagles, 54-50.
In just the school’s second year of existence, Liberty North (23-7) picked up its first state basketball trophy.
“What a game. I’ll bet as a fan it was a fun game to watch,” Eagles coach Chris McCabe said. “I think (the original feeling) was just a hangover. You could tell we were worried about the snowball effect a little bit.”
Imagine (23-8, No. 10 in the STLhighschoolsports.com small-schools rankings) also picked up its first state basketball trophy with the fourth-place finish.
“I feel like the game was a hangover for us from our tough loss yesterday, and our energy level wasn’t there early,” Bears coach Tony Irons said. “But I’m definitely not taking anything away from (Liberty North). They made plays, and they hit some big shots.”
No shot was bigger than Garrett Loew’s 3-pointer from the top of the key with four seconds left in regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime.
“I wanted to take the shot being a senior since this was my last game,” said Loew, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds and is one of only two seniors on the team. “It was initially supposed to be a flare screen, but that wasn’t there and then I got open at the top and got a decent look at it.”
Irons said he thought about calling for a foul in the few seconds leading up to Loew’s 3-point attempt.
“We didn’t have a timeout to talk about it,” he said. “I’m a big believer in fouling in that situation, but mostly with about five seconds left. There was too much time left.”
Imagine scored the last nine points of the first quarter to take a 17-8 lead, but Liberty North tallied 14 of the 18 combined points in the second quarter to grab a 22-21 halftime advantage — its first lead of the entire weekend.
The Bears led 33-31 entering the fourth quarter, but the Eagles knocked down two quick 3-pointers and led for most of the quarter until Martavian Payne hit a jumper with 48 seconds left to put Imagine up 44-43.
Imagine scored the first bucket of overtime to go up 48-46, but Liberty North scored the next six to take a lead it would not relinquish.
For the Bears, the game marked their fourth straight close playoff game. After a pair of one-point wins to start the postseason, Imagine dropped a three-point game to Hillcrest in the semifinals and followed that up with the OT loss on Saturday.
“My only regret is not doing what we were capable of doing up here,” said Taj Ar-Razzaaq-Mohammed, one of two seniors for Imagine. “But it does feel good to get our school the type of recognition it needs.”