Big plays propel Liberty past Life Christian Academy

Liberty, faced with technical difficulties, managed to clear everything up just in time on Thursday afternoon.

Big plays by Chase Burnham and Kyle King, and the inside presence of 6-foot-5 Clay Fleming and 6-8 Match Burnham, who combined for 36 points, allowed the Lancers (25-2) to hold back Life Christian Academy 56-51 in a State 2B boys quarterfinal at the Arena.

“Once we figured out what we were doing wrong, we turned everything around and started playing our game,” said Fleming, a senior post who had game highs of 20 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. “We quit worrying about the refs and we did our thing.”

Fleming and head coach Mike Thacker put the Lancers in hot water by drawing technical fouls with 41.4 seconds left in the third quarter. Andy Comfort, a 6-5 senior, hit 3 of 4 free throws to give the Eagles (25-2) a 43-40 lead.

Fleming said he and Eagles post Jeremy Pallwitz “got a little scrappy” while pursuing a loose ball. Thacker said he attempted to call timeout during the scramble and was later assessed the second technical when he came out on the floor to say he didn’t want the timeout.

“It could have been worse,” Thacker said. “I know they missed a free throw in there and they did not get the bucket off the out-of-bounds play, but I didn’t intend to get that (technical).”

The Eagles, who had never trailed since midway through the first quarter, surrendered the lead with 4:22 left when Chase Burnham’s three-point play gave Liberty a 48-47 edge. King followed with a 3-pointer with 3:33 left.

“Once those hit, everything started to go our way,” said Fleming, whose putback with 2:41 left gave Liberty a 53-47 lead.

“We took the lead, and when we have a lead we’re hard to play against because we shoot free throws really well,” Thacker said.

LCA, with three starters 6-5 or taller, had success with a 2-3 zone defense that Liberty knew was coming. The Eagles used an 8-0 run to take a 10-4 lead and led by as many as eight points early in the second half.

“We were getting the ball inside. We just … couldn’t get a couple of shots to drop in,” Thacker said. “We had a couple of bunnies that wouldn’t drop either.”

Liberty will meet Brewster (23-2) at 5:30 tonight in the second semifinal. Northwest Christian (20-7) will attempt to end the 53-game winning streak of defending champion Morton-White Pass (26-0) at 3:45.