Chess matches the moment, hits game-winning 3 for Liberty in win
Dywane Chess Jr. said that the one intangible emphasized before his Liberty boys basketball team played Freedom Friday night at Memorial Gym was trust.
Chess made sure the trust his team had in him was justified.
Trailing 52-51 with the clock running out and the Hurricanes in scramble mode, Chess spotted up beyond the 3-point line on the right wing, took a pass from Blake Hargrove, and drained the biggest shot of the Liberty season.
Chess’ 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left gave the Hurricanes a stunning 54-52 over their Bethlehem rivals before one of the biggest crowds of the season.
A desperation shot by Freedom at the buzzer didn’t come close and Liberty avenged a 54-49 loss at Freedom three weeks earlier.
“That shot was about my confidence,” Chess, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, said. “Once it came off my hands I knew it was going in. Blake fed me the ball and him doing that makes us a better team. That’s trusting and believing in your teammate that he could hit that shot and I did.”
It was all about belief for Liberty after the Hurricanes got down 32-19 in the first 90 seconds of the second half.
Freedom used an 11-1 run to take a 21-13 lead in the second quarter and led 26-19 at halftime. When the Patriots scored the first six points of the third quarter it looked like they were going to sweep the season series with their Christmas City neighbors.
Instead, Liberty closed the third period strong with Hargrove scoring five points off steals and coming up with several assists to set up others.
The Hurricanes got within 42-39 entering the fourth quarter and finally took a 48-47 lead on a Chess spin move inside with 3:30 left. A drive by junior Caden Vermulen made it 50-47 with 3:21 to go, but Freedom came back to take a 52-50 lead on two Nick Ellis free throws with 1:32 left.
After a series of missed opportunities, Ellis, who will likely end his career as the Patriots’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder, had a chance to give Freedom a 3-point lead when he went to the foul line with 10 seconds left.
But Ellis had the front end of a one-and-one roll off the rim. Ziego Goodman got the rebound and passed to Hargrove who drove inside but was cut off. He split two Freedom defenders with an underhanded pass to Chess who released his shot over an outstretched Ellis. It was all net.
“We didn’t have any timeouts left but Freedom called one before went to the line,” Liberty coach Nigel Long said. “We said during that huddle that if he made both free throws and we’re down by three, we had to go for a 3-point shot. But if we’re down by one or two, let’s just put our head down and get to the basket and make the ref make a call.”
Long said the final sequence was perfectly executed.
“Ziego got the rebound, got the ball to Blake and he got downhill and made a really good pass to Dywane and Dywane hit a big shot,” Long said.
It was a night of redemption for Liberty after the Hurricanes squandered a 14-point, second-half lead in the loss at Freedom.
“We talked about that game and how that felt,” Long said. “We left some plays on the table and could have done some things differently as coaches as well. We made some adjustments going into this game, but I’m just really proud of our guys for how they fought back. We were down double digits, but we trusted each other and stayed together. We made some huge plays at the end.”
Both teams got major contributions from unexpected sources.
Vermuelen finished with a season-high 12 points for the Hurricanes (13-8, 9-6), while Krishna Mangroo had 14 points and 3 assists for the Patriots (14-9, 10-5).
Ellis totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds and has 1,173 points and 617 rebounds in his career. He needs 53 points and 13 rebounds to become the school’s all-time leader in both. Freedom is guaranteed three more games starting with Monday’s regular-season finale against Dieruff at home. The Patriots, like the Hurricanes, will also have at least one game in the league and District 11 6A tournaments.
If Liberty and Freedom should meet again in either tournament, expect a big crowd and an exciting finish with no lead safe.
“This was another good high school basketball atmosphere,” Patriots coach Joe Stellato said. “It was a great basketball game; what you’d expect when you get Liberty and Freedom. We were up by 13 at one point, but I think we came down and turned it over two or three times in a row and that let them back in the game. We missed some shots and had some crucial turnovers.”
His message to his team afterward?
“I don’t say much after wins or losses; I just get them out of here,” Stellato said. “We’ll regroup on Sunday and get in a practice before we play on Monday. I just said to keep their heads up. We’ve got bigger fish to fry. That’s the playoffs and we’ve put ourselves in good position to be there. This game ultimately won’t mean much.”
But it meant something to Liberty that many think is a year or two away from being a serious title contender.
“We’re now going to be playing the best teams in the league and in order to beat those teams you have to be tough for four quarters,” Long said. “You have to dive on the floor for loose balls, take charges, securing the ball and valuing every possession. Tonight we did a much better job of that. We just have to believe and our guys believed tonight. I’m glad we were able to get this experience and memory for our seniors because this is their last home game.”
Liberty closes the regular season Monday against Easton.