Liberty tunes up for possible state tournament run with impressive Senior Night victory over QND

QUINCY — Logan Robbins is growing a little weary of his dad’s stories.

“I’ve heard them all,” the Liberty senior said with a roll of the eyes.

His father, Don, was a starter on the 1990 Unity basketball team that won its first 30 games before losing to Pittsfield in the super-sectional. 

“The stories are never ending … I mean never ending,” Robbins said with a laugh after his team knocked off Quincy Notre Dame 57-43 Friday during Senior Night at Liberty. “’30 and Oh Baby.’ Lost in the super-sectional. I know, I know. I hear it all the time.

“He tells me all the time how his team would beat my team. I said, ‘Let’s go. Let’s run it. Let’s get everybody back and do this.’ Now he says, ‘Keep in mind, now we’re all 50. I hope you could beat us.’ It’s fun to talk about with him.”

For this year’s Eagles to advance farther in the state tournament than the 1990 Mustangs did, they’ll need to reach the Class 1A state tournament in Champaign.

Liberty (23-5), ranked No. 3 in the most recent Class 1A poll, looked more than capable of doing that Friday night.

Breiton Klingele, a 6-foot-4 senior, led the Eagles with 17 points. Robbins, a 6-foot-5 senior, added 15, and Devin Klauser, a 6-foot-6 senior, chipped in with 11. Eighteen of Liberty’s baskets came on layups, offensive rebounds or shots within five feet of the rim.

“Early in the season, we weren’t being aggressive. We weren’t attacking,” Eagles coach Greg Altmix said. “I’m like, my gosh, guys, come on. We’ve got a nice front line, and we’ve got some guards who can get to the rim. So let’s take advantage of that.

“Devin has really bought in, and he’s crashing the boards hard for us. Lanky Logan Robbins is flying around out there, and Breiton is banging inside. That’s what we want to do.”

Robbins got the game started with a steal and a dunk, and he added an old-fashioned three-point play and a layup in the first quarter to help stake Liberty to an 18-15 lead.

QND was still close at 24-20 midway through the second quarter, but the Raiders missed five shots and turned the ball over twice while Liberty strung together nine consecutive points. Klingele started the run with a layup and finished it with a reverse layup to put the hosts ahead 33-20. Liberty led 35-24 at halftime.

QND (15-10) started the third quarter with a 3-pointer and a layup by Alex Connoyer, and two free throws by Jackson Stratton got the Raiders within 37-31 with a little more than two minutes elapsed.

The Raiders, however, missed their shot to get even closer. Liberty missed its next four shots and turned the ball over five times, but the Raiders missed two shots and had six turnovers — including five straight — at the same time.

Braden Sheffield’s 3-pointer from the top of the key was the only QND basket after the 5:45 mark of the quarter. A steal and layup by Reese Knuffman with 2;01 left in the quarter broke the drought for Liberty, which stretched its lead to 43-34 entering the fourth quarter.

The Raiders never got closer than seven points again.

“That’s when you finally get a group of young men who buy into the defense,” Altmix said. “It’s always going to give you a chance to win the game. Occasionally you’re going to go through shooting slumps, and you’re going to have to find stops on the defensive end during those stretches.”

The Raiders had 21 turnovers in the first three quarters. QND coach Kevin Meyer thought Liberty’s offensive rebounding also made a big difference.

“We were fighting and fighting and fighting, but then a shot would go up and on the weak side, we would give them easy basket from Devin or an easy basket from Breiton,” Meyer said. “Those are just gut punches. Then we had that stretch in the third quarter when (the score was) 37-31 forever. We got out of the system, and we started to play a little one on one. That messed us up a little bit.”

Liberty learned earlier this week it was the No. 1 seed in its Class 1A super-sectional, and postseason play begins next week. Robbins and Altmix like their chances.

“I feel like we’re starting to get it,” Robbins said. “I feel like our practices are starting to kick in more. We’re starting to hit that stride right now.”

“I see the fire that’s in some guys,” Altmix said. “When that ball’s on the floor, they’re getting after it. When that ball’s coming off the rim, they’re going for it. We’re pretty darn close.”

Sheffield had 16 points for the Raiders, who missed their last eight field goal attempts and made just 13 of 39 shots from the field. Postseason play also begins in a week for QND, which has lost three of its last four with three regular season games remaining.

“We need these extra games to get ourselves right,” Meyer said. “I don’t think there’s a lack of confidence within our group. I definitely believe that they know that. Our schedule puts them in a situation that they’ve seen everything this year. Liberty’s guys are clicking right now. We still need to get those three other games under our belt.”