Liberty North gets the last word in back-and-forth OT duel with Imagine

COLUMBIA, Mo. Both coaches used the same word to describe the feeling at the onset of the Class 4 boys third-place game Saturday at Mizzou Arena.

Hangover.

Liberty North and Imagine werecoming off tough semifinal losses on Friday, but botheventually were able to shake it off long enough to play a thrilling overtime game, won by the Eagles, 54-50.

In just the school's second year of existence, Liberty North (23-7) picked up its first state basketball trophy.

What a game. I'll bet as a fan it was a fun game to watch, Eagles coach Chris McCabe said. I think (the original feeling) was just a hangover. You could tell we were worried about the snowball effect a little bit.

Imagine (23-8, No. 10 in the STLhighschoolsports.com small-schools rankings) also picked up its first state basketball trophy with the fourth-place finish.

I feel like the game was a hangover for us from our tough loss yesterday, and our energy level wasn't there early, Bears coach Tony Irons said. But I'm definitely not taking anything away from (Liberty North). They made plays, and they hit some big shots.

No shot was bigger than Garrett Loew's 3-pointer from the top of the key with four seconds left in regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime.

I wanted to take the shot being a senior since this was my last game, said Loew, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds and is one of only two seniors on the team. It was initially supposed to be a flare screen, but that wasn't there and then I got open at the top and got a decent look at it.

Irons said he thought about calling for a foul in the few seconds leading up to Loew's 3-point attempt.

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Liberty North gets the last word in back-and-forth OT duel with Imagine