50 After 50: No. 18 Eagles reset mindset after late-season setbacks, make run to history

The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock counties since 1972.

No. 18 — 2015-16 Liberty

LIBERTY, Ill. — The mood was anything but celebratory.

Beaten by Pittsfield on a three-quarters court heave at the buzzer in the final game of the 2015-16 regular season, no one associated with the Liberty boys basketball program felt like trickling over to the school’s small gym and honoring the senior class.

That’s understandable.

The Eagles’ Tayton Roe hit a baseline jumper with less than a second on clock to tie the game at 49. The Saukees immediately called timeout, but while the teams were huddled on their respective benches, the game officials added time to the game clock.

It gave the Saukees 1.6 seconds to make a play.

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen this,” Liberty coach Greg Altmix said. “During the timeout, the referees went over and added time. I had never seen that before in a high school game.”

It turned out to be enough time for Pittsfield’s Quinn Leahy to catch a pass, dribble and launch a prayer from the other side of halfcourt.

“And he drains it,” Altmix said.

The 52-49 loss was crushing, especially for those who now had to find a way to make the most of the celebration for the seniors.

“It was as quiet as I’ve ever seen a Senior Night,” Altmix said. “It was dead quiet.”

Three losses in a four-game stretch will put anyone in a foul frame of mind.

And Altmix wasn’t sure what the reaction might be.

“I felt one of two things was going to happen,” Altmix said. “We were just going to be crushed and we were going to struggle going into the postseason. Or I think I felt that night it was going to go the other way. It was one of those where I felt it hit home how quickly things can end or it can change. I was worried.”

He had no reason to be.

The Eagles steamrolled Springfield Calvary 68-33 in the Class 1A Triopia Regional opener, kickstarting a magical run to the state tournament that was punctuated with a 57-51 victory over Woodlawn in the third-place game at Carver Arena. Not only did the Eagles match the 2005 team’s single-season school record of 30 victories, but their third-place trophy marked the highest state finish in program history.

They also matched the 1991 boys cross country team and the 2016 girls cross country team for the highest state finish in school history.

Everything was made possible by a shift in the Eagles approach after the humbling stretch of games, which included a 70-35 pummeling by Payson Seymour and a 19-point loss to Quincy Notre Dame.

“The mindset was exactly what we needed,” Altmix said of how the Eagles handled the regional opener against Calvary. “Then I thought, ‘Now can we go out and physically perform?’ You have to make shots and physically perform. These guys did both.

“I didn’t know how far it was going to go, but I knew those guys had taken a major step after a tough stretch to end the regular season. I thought it could turn into something pretty special, and it did.”

It was because of the way the Eagles shared the ball, the spotlight and the glory.

They also played smart.

Facing Peoria Quest in the Bushnell-Prairie City Sectional championship, Liberty decided to go at the Gators’ shot blockers and attempt to get them in foul trouble. Senior forward Cole Wellman did exactly that, scoring 35 points and going 21 of 26 from the line in the nine-point victory.

“Cole pump fakes, gets fouled, pump fakes, gets fouled,” Altmix said laughing. “I think he fouled three guys out of the game.”

Then it was the defense’s turn to steal the show in the super-sectional. Waterloo Gibault was considered the favorite, but the Eagles limited the Hawks to four points in the fourth quarter of a 41-37 victory. The final two baskets were scored by Daniel Mast and Zach Barker, two forward who averaged a combined 6.5 points throughout the season.

“If you’re going to make that run, you have to have moments where somebody steps up big for you,” Altmix said. “Not very often do you have one player you can ride for seven games like that. So you need those guys to step up. All year long, everybody had confidence in one another. It carried us a long way.”

It led the Eagles straight into history.