Lima Central Catholic’s Willie Foster shoots against Liberty-Benton’s Carson Conaway during Tuesday’s game at Liberty-Benton High School.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
FINDLAY — LCC’s boys basketball team possesses two main qualities that coaches can’t teach and players can’t learn, speed and athleticism.
On Tuesday night, those two things were the defining factors in a 65-53 win over Liberty-Benton.
The T-Birds (19-2) scored 13 straight points in the first quarter after going down 2-0 and never looked back.
Although the Eagles (13-2) tied the game at 19 in the second quarter and hung around in the second half, the mobility of LCC guards Jordan Priddy, Willie Foster, and Demarr Foster bothered the longer and taller Liberty-Benton defenders, who struggled to keep up.
“Our number one key was to limit their runs. Make them 6-0 and not 12-0, so it was extremely disappointing to be in that position early,” Liberty-Benton coach Doug Whiteman said. “Credit to our guys for fighting back because we had to give our best effort to have a chance against a team like that.”
Willie Foster scored a game-high 21 points for the T-Birds. Jordan Priddy added 19 points, and Demarr Foster hit a pair of threes and finished the game with 12 points.
Willie Foster hit eight of his first 10 shots and finished the game an efficient 10 for 16 from the floor.
“He’s a very talented young man,” LCC coach Sean Powell said. “We try to get him in space and allow him to showcase his talent. Tonight he did a pretty good job of dipping his inside shoulder to get leverage on his guy and get to the basket.”
LCC comfortably went to its bench throughout the game to keep fresh legs on the court, something that was tough for Liberty-Benton to deal with considering that Zach Elchert (broken thumb) and Reid Thomas (broken foot) were both in the rotation despite injuries.
“We like to rotate eight players and we like to rotate them fast,” Powell said. “Our goal is to give them four minutes on the floor, and two minutes on the bench. We believe if kids can rotate in and out quickly, they’ll continue to play hard and they’ll always keep the energy up.”
LCC led 17-9 at the end of the first quarter. Willie Foster and Jordan Priddy combined for 15 of the 17 points.
Liberty-Benton used a 13-10 second quarter to trim the deficit to 27-22.
Carson Conaway scored the Eagles’ first eight points of the fourth quarter before fouling out with 5:13 left.
LCC responded with an 8-0 run after Conaway checked out with 15 points. Jake Gerken paced Liberty-Benton with 18 points, including a pair of threes.
LCC shot exactly 50 percent from the floor (25 of 50), while Liberty-Benton hit 19 of 49 field goals for 38 percent.
The Eagles committed more turnovers at 15-13 and were out-rebounded 25-18.
LCC 65, Liberty-Benton 53
Score by quarters
LCC 17 10 18 20 – 65
Liberty-Benton 9 13 15 16 – 53
LCC
Willie Foster 21, Jordan Priddy 19, Demarr Foster 12, Carson Parker 5, Billy Bourk 5, Parker Judy 2, Matthew Quatman 1, Totals: 25-12-65.
LIBERTY-BENTON
Jake Gerken 18, Carson Conaway 15, Zach Elchert 9, Lincoln Holler 6, Reid Irwin 4, Jackson Hochstettler 1, Totals: 19-6-53
Three-point goals — LCC: D. Foster 2, Priddy 1; LB: Gerken 2, Holler 2, Elchert 1.
Records — LCC 19-2; Liberty-Benton 13-9
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter @Lima_Howell
