(Kelsey Lowry/CHSAANow.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS – Liberty boys basketball is headed to the Class 5A Sweet 16.
The Lancers, seeded No. 12, beat No. 44 Monarch 57-52 on Saturday afternoon at Liberty High School.
“We knew that Monarch was coming off a five-game winning streak against some good teams and didn’t have anything to lose and would battle,” said Liberty coach Ivan Chambers. “Fortunately, our guys were prepared and came out on top.”
The game consisted of a constant back-and-forth battle between these two teams. Monarch opened with a 3-pointer, but Liberty responded with an 11-0 run that made it 11-3.
The next two quarters were the same narrative, and Liberty hung onto the lead by only four points going into the final quarter.
That quarter started with a 3-pointer from Monarch’s Tylor Trihn and was followed by another 3-pointer from CJ Shamanski that gave Monarch the lead.
“We have been here before and have had to play from behind,” Chambers said of losing the lead. “But these guys are very smart when it comes to basketball and they know what to do in that situation and they were able to come out and take care of business.”
And the Liberty Lancers did just that.
With only four minutes left, Liberty drove the ball down the court and Moz Doria tossed the ball into the hoop to give the Lancers the lead again. After that, big rebounds and free throws sealed the win for Liberty.
Doria, a senior forward, led the Lancers with an impressive 20 points and was in the middle of every play. Sean Bohuslavsky added a nice 15 points and Kyle Bohuslavsky also provided 11 points.
“We knew this was going to be a hard game because Monarch has a really good team,” Doria said. “But this team is more like a family and we’ve known each other since we were in fifth grade, so that really helps us to come together and be successful like we were today.”
Monarch stayed in the fight till the very last few minutes of the game but couldn’t quite catch Liberty.
The Coyotes were led by Shamanski, who put up 17 points, and he was accompanied by 10 points from Keegan Johnson. Monarch finishes the season with a 13-12 record.
Liberty will play at No. 5 George Washington in the Sweet 16 on Feb. 28. The Patriots beat No. 37 Bear Creek 76-54 on Saturday.
“This is a fun group of guys and when we can play together as a team we can be pretty dangerous,” Chambers said.