No. 4-ranked Liberty pulls away late against feisty Griggsville-Perry to reach regional final

GRIGGSVILLE, Ill. — Better late than never.

Liberty withstood Griggsville-Perry’s upset bid Wednesday night in a Class 1A regional semifinal game, eventually pulling away in the final quarter to secure a 61-47 victory.

The top-seeded Eagles (25-5) entered the game a huge favorite but were unable to turn back Griggsville-Perry (15-17) — a team they defeated 52-20 in late January — until the closing minutes of a game witnessed by a crowd of about 800.

“I think we were hurt by two things early,” Liberty coach Greg Altmix said. “First, we hadn’t played for (a week), and second, I think we had some jitters of it being the first postseason game. In the second half, I think we felt more more comfortable and were able to develop more of a rhythm. At halftime, we told our players to play their game, to do what they are capable of doing.

“I also think there was some extra pressure of being state-ranked (No. 4). We had that target on our backs.”

Liberty advances to play Winchester-Bluffs West Central (22-10), which defeated Payson Seymour 62-49 in Wednesday night’s other regional semifinal game. Liberty and West Central tip off at 7 p.m. Friday for a trip to the March 1 sectional at North Greene. It will be the third meeting of the year between the two schools, with Liberty owning victories on Nov. 26 (77-59) and Feb. 4 (75-47).

Breiton Klingele, a 6-foot-4 senior, paced Liberty with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Klingele scored 18 of his points over the first three quarters when he served as the Eagles’ only consistent scoring threat and inside muscle.

“(Klingele) anchored us in the middle,” said Altmix, who noted Klingele did not play his junior season because of a broken ankle.

Liberty led at the quarter breaks 17-9, 29-27 and 39-35, but it took a 22-12 spurt across the final eight minutes to finally put down the Tornadoes. Six different Eagles registered points in the fourth quarter.

Devin Klauser, a 6-6 senior, seconded Klingele with 14 points, six rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Klingele and Klauser triggered a 33-16 rebounding advantage for the Eagles, who are in the midst of their seventh 20-win campaign in the last eight non-pandemic shortened seasons.

Clayton Obert (9) and Logan Robbins (8), two more frontcourt threats for Liberty, combined for 17 points. Robbins also had a fourth-quarter dunk.

Griggsville-Perry’s Tate Kunzeman, a 5-11 senior, enjoyed a banner game, finishing with team highs of 22 points and seven rebounds. Kunzeman, who had 15 of his points in the first half, has been the Tornadoes’ go-to guy much of the season. He had a season high of 37 points Feb. 12 in a 64-50 loss at East Alton-Wood River.

Wyatt Lipcaman (11) and Jakson Freeman (9) combined for an additional 20 points for the Tornadoes, who were coming off a 51-21 victory over Western in their postseason opener.

“We fought as hard as we could,” Griggsville-Perry coach Garrett White said. “Our kids left everything they had out on the floor. Liberty’s just a very good team.”