Thursday night's Class 5A nonleague game between Liberty and Abraham Lincoln didn't draw huge numbers at the gate.

Even the parents were somewhat relatively speaking quiet.

But there were some interested onlookers. Members of the CHSAA seeding committee were conspicuously perched at the top of the stands taking notes, and both head coaches, with their teams needing to make a positive showing, knew it.

"I didn't tell the guys they were going to be here," Liberty coach Ivan Chambers said. "We just came out and played our game."

The visiting Lancers played smart offensive basketball, defended well and continued to improve late in the season, walking away with a 75-62 win over the home- standing Lancers.

"We are finally seeing what we are capable of doing," said Chambers, a former Air Academy girls coach. "We kind of struggled early in the year, but we played a tough schedule ... and those games have paid off for us."

Liberty (10-7) trailed 39-37 midway through the third quarter when it made its run. A 13-0 spurt engineered by bench players Matt Love, Dallin Page and Garet Bohuslavsky put Liberty ahead 50-39 and gave the team's patient offensive set a comfortable lead going to the fourth.

"We didn't want to peak in December or even January," said Chambers, whose bench outscored Lincoln's 40-7. "We wanted to peak in February and we are starting to come out and put a lot of good minutes together."

Lincoln (12-8) clawed to within 67-60 with under three minutes to play, but cold shooting and an 8-0 run at the free-throw line put things out of reach for coach Vince Valdez's team.

"The ball didn't bounce our way because we didn't deserve it," said Valdez, whose team was led by Gabriel Vasquez's 21 points and Jonte Dotson's 15. "This game is so pure, that it seems the fortunate breaks favor the prepared. Liberty was prepared and we weren't."

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Liberty scores points for 5A seeding with win