Pre-Season Meeting Scheduled

There will be a boys basketball meeting after school at 3:00 in the gym on Wednesday, Aug. 24th. If you are not involved in a fall sport your attendance is required. The meeting will last 15 mins.

On to Sectionals for BlueJays

After claiming a District Championship against Kearney Friday night, it's on to Sectionals this Wednesday. Liberty will play Park Hill South at the Independence Events Center at 3:00. The Tribune's Chris Geinosky wrote the following article:

http://www.kccommunitynews.com/liberty-tribune-sports/27023149/detail.html#

BlueJays Win Battle Against Bears

The Liberty BlueJays started their post-season journey with an 86-54 win against William Chrisman. A good shooting night, solid defense, and balanced scoring aided the Jays. Five players posted double digit scoring led by Isaiah Norfleet with 18 points. Jordan Lewis had 13, Denton Koon and Austin Weese each had 11 and Max Francisco chipped in 10.

An on-line article written by the Tribune's Chris Geinosky is posted here:

http://www.kccommunitynews.com/liberty-tribune-sports/26973972/detail.html

Up next are the Kearney Bulldogs Friday night for the district championship at 8pm at Winnetonka HS. The Lady Jays face Kearney at 6pm.

Jays Win Battle vs Bulldogs

The Liberty BlueJays win their last regular season game against the Grandview Bulldogs Friday night by a score of 77-61. After a fairly even first quarter, the Jays were ahead 14-10, Liberty dominated the 2nd frame winning it 21-4. The lead for the Jays peaked at 29 midway through the 3rd quarter.

Leading scorers for the game were Denton Koon with 27, Isaiah Norfleet, 19, and Jordan Lewis with 15 points.

Up next for Liberty is District #15 play on Wednesday, Feb 23rd at Winnetonka. The opponent will be either North Kansas City or William Chrisman.

Jays Power Way to Win vs Ray-Pec

The Liberty BlueJays played a solid 4 quarters of basketball Tuesday night in their effort to defeat the Panthers of Ray-Pec. The Jays were victorious 69-57. Leading scorers for the game were Isaiah Norfleet with 14 points, Jordan Lewis, 14, Ben Hansen, 10, and Max Francisco and Denton Koon each finished with 9.

Overall, the Jays played with a lot of poise and toughness. Things didn't always go their way as the Panthers forced the BlueJays into a plethora turnovers but a hot shooting night overcame some adversity. The Jays made 65% of their shots in the 1st half and finished the game by converting 56% from the field.

"Besides passing the ball to them too many times, we had 17 assists on 22 field goals for the game," stated Coach Stirtz. "That's a very acceptable number of assists for a game. Overall, our staff was very pleased with how we played with great effort and pride. Austin Weese, Brandon Chapman, Francisco, Norfleet, and Koon really battled in the paint. Our guards played solid perimeter defense and that was a big factor in the outcome too."

The Jays close out the regular season this Friday night at Grandview.

Note: The video above is of Ben Hansen's remarkable 'And 1'.

Senior Night Article is On-line

You can read Chris Geinosky's story on Senior Night 2011 at the link listed below.


http://www.kccommunitynews.com/liberty-tribune-sports/26878667/detail.html

BlueJays Considered for Team of the Week

Today is the last day to vote on the survey on http://www.kmbc.com/ to see which of the four teams will be highlighted on the news this week. You can vote as often as possible. Here are the current standings:

Which team deserves to be in the Hy-Vee Hoops spotlight?

Votes
Percentage of 3,163 Votes
Liberty - Boys
1,169
37%
Truman - Girls
1,445
46%
Shawnee Mission South - Boys
268
8%
Wyandotte - Girls
281
9%

District Games are Announced

The Class 5, District 15 seeds were determined Saturday at the host school, Winnetonka. Earning the #1 seed was Winnetonka; #2, Liberty; #3, North Kansas City; #4, Kearney; #5, Fort Osage; #6, William Chrisman. The tournament dates are set for Monday, Feb. 21st, Wednesday, Feb 23rd, and Friday, Feb 25th.

Mon. Feb 21st: 5:30pm: North Kansas City vs William Chrisman

7:00pm: Kearney vs Fort Osage

Wed. Feb 23rd: 5:30pm: Liberty vs NKC/WC winner

7:00pm: Winnetonka vs Kearney/Fort Osage winner

Fri. Feb 25th: 8:00pm: Boy's Championship

Seniors Go Out in Style

The Liberty BlueJays, after a slow start, beat the St Joe Central Indians at Cokely Fieldhouse tonight 73-62 in front of another capacity crowd. The performance by the Jays was a little extra special because of Senior Night 2011.

"I thought our seniors played well. Their desire to succeed tonight was impressive to me. They took a lot of pride in making sure their last game at Cokely was a "W". Each senior had the opportunity to speak to the team about what this game meant to them. It was very inspiring and motivating and I think it showed on the court," remarked Coach Stirtz.

After a sluggish opening quarter, which concluding with the Jays down by 4 points and only scoring 10 points, Liberty bounced back with a 22 point second quarter. However, the defense allowed the Indians 20 points so the deficit was 2 at halftime. After being in early foul trouble, Jordan Lewis had a 9 point 2nd quarter and teamed with Isaiah Norfleet who had 10 points in the frame.

The third quarter belonged to the Jays who out-scored the St Joe 23-10. Eleven points in the quarter by Denton Koon was the big difference. "The big key to our 2nd half performance was our defense. We took some pride on stopping our man and being mid-line to help much better. Our defensive boards were key to enable us to get our transition offense going," stated Coach Simpson.

Overall, Norfleet led the Jays with 24 points, followed by Koon with 21 and Lewis with 18.

Up next are road trips to Ray-Pec on Tuesday and Grandview on Friday of next week.

Senior Night at Cokely

Tonight will be the last home game for our six outstanding Seniors. Derrick Johnson, Austin Weese, Jordan Lewis, Ben Hansen, Isaiah Norfleet and Denton Koon will tip off against St. Joe Central this evening. Another capacity crowd is expected so arrive early to get a great seat. In addition, the ceremony honoring our seniors will take place immediately after the Junior Varsity game is completed.

Go Jays!

District Tourney Information

The following schools will participate in the Class 5 District #15 boy's basketball tournament at Winnetonka HS: Winnetonka, Fort Osage, North Kansas City, William Chrisman, Kearney, and Liberty. The seed meeting will be this Saturday. Here are the dates and times of possible games:

Monday, Feb 21st: Seed #6 vs Seed #3 @ 5:30pm. Seed #5 vs Seed #4 @ 7:00pm

Wednesday, Feb 23rd: Semifinal upper bracket including Seed #1, @ 5:30. Semifinal lower bracket including Seed #2, @ 7:00

Friday, Feb 25th: Boy's Championship Game @ 8:00pm

Total bracket information can be located on the following website:

http://www.mshsaa.org/Activities/DistrictWinners.aspx?alg=5&class=5

Great Crowd Cheers Jays to Courtwarming Win

The Liberty BlueJays won their Courtwarming game over the Blue Springs Wildcats 65-49 Friday night. With a packed Cokely Fieldhouse and the Cokely Crazies in full force, it was a great atmosphere for high school basketball.

The Wildcats started the game off strong with a solid first half, especially a good first quarter. They had a one point edge after the first frame. Ben Hansen's 4 free-throws, Denton Koon's 5 points and Max Francisco's 4 points kept it close during the opening quarter. Then Jordan Lewis caught fire in the 2nd quarter. He scored 10 points and a Hansen deep 3 pointer helped the Jays edge in front 32-29 by halftime.

The second half was owned by Liberty who at times stretched their lead close to 20 points. Isaiah Norfleet did some damage to the Wildcats in the 2nd half by scoring 11 points.

In the end the Jays had 4 players in double figures: Lewis, 17 pts; Norfleet, 15 pts; Koon, 13 pts; and Hansen, 12 pts.

"The staff was very pleased with how we played in the 2nd half. We were very close to playing some good basketball in the first half too, but we just made some simple mistakes that Blue Springs capitalized on. We corrected those mistakes in the 2nd half. We were very pleased with how Austin Weese and Max Francisco guarded their post player. He's big, strong, and very active. We thought our guys played with a lot of intensity and that helped them win the battle," stated Coach Stirtz. "We would like to thank our great fans for coming out to Cokely to pack the Fieldhouse."

Up next for the Jays are their last two home games of the season. Liberty hosts Columbia Hickman on Wednesday and St Joe Central on Friday, which will be Senior Night.

Revised 9th Grade 'B' Team Tourney Schedule

The following is the revised tournament schedule for the 9th grade 'B' team:

All game will be played at the Blue Springs 9th grade center.

Liberty vs LSN, Feb 3rd, 5:30pm, North gym;
If win-Feb 4th, 5:30pm, South gym
If lose-Feb 4th, 5:30pm, North gym
Final round games will be held in both gyms, at either 4pm or 5:30 pm, on Feb 7th.

Go Jays!

BlueJays Tackle Tigers 58-43

The Liberty BlueJays used a strong and consistent beginning to the game to beat the Lee's Summit Tigers 58-43 Friday night at Lee's Summit. In the opening quarter Ben Hansen made 2 three point shots and Kyle Rutliff added another to help the Jays to a 19-4 edge at the end of the 1st quarter. Although the BlueJays offense wasn't as productive in the second frame, the Jays still held a 25-12 lead at halftime.

The Tigers mounted a solid comeback in the 3rd quarter and cut their deficit to as few as 5 but an old-fashioned three point play by Denton Koon stopped their run. In addition to Koon's play, the defense, who played an outstanding game of controlling Lee's Summit's shooters, stepped up and got some keys stops and rebounds.

Koon led the way with 20 points, Hansen finished with 10, Jordan Lewis with 9, and Rutliff had 8. The Jays made 22 out of 38 shots (58%) and were an efficient 5-10 from beyond the arc. Liberty held the Tigers to a 37% field goal percentage and had a 32-17 edge on the boards.

The Jays travel to Blue Springs South next Tuesday and then are back home against Blue Springs for Courtwarming.

In the JV game, the BlueJays scored the last 13 points of the game to win 56-42. Up by one point at the time, the Jays played great defense, made their lay ups and free-throws to ice the game.

Congrats Jays on two very solid wins!

Miracle Finish by the Jays

A Ben Hansen tip-in at the buzzer lifted the BlueJays to victory over a tough and talented Park Hill squad tonight at Cokely by a score of 48-47. Down by as many as 5 points late in the game, the Trojans mounted a strong comeback to take a 1 point lead with 17 seconds left. But a foul on Park Hill gave the ball back to the Jays with plenty of time to a shot and 2 tip-in attempts to win the game. The shot and first tip-in were unsuccessful but Hansen delivered at the buzzer for the game winner. It was his 9th point of the night.

Leading scorers in the game were Flint of PH with 22, Koon of LHS with 15 and Nsenki of PH with 14.

The BlueJays would like to thank the Cokely Crazies for an awesome 'White Out' game and all the fans for supporting our Coaches vs Cancer contest.

Up next are the Tigers of Lee's Summit on Friday. Go Jays.

Coaches vs Cancer Game Tonight

On the court this evening, Liberty will face off against Park Hill, but in a bigger contest the Jays and Trojans will join forces to battle cancer. Coaches from both teams have joined the fight against the disease during Coaches vs Cancer week. The following is some information about tonight's game:

· Coaches vs. Cancer is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) that empowers basketball coaches, their teams, and local communities to make a difference in the fight against cancer.
· Over 2000 Div I, II and III collegiate coaches participate
· Over 100 high school coaches participate
· Coaches wear sneakers to raise awareness
· Started by Norm Stewart in 1993
· Coaches vs. Cancer has raised nearly $50 million since its inception to support the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving mission to eliminate cancer as a life-threatening disease.
· Our goal is to raise $1000 tonight to contribute to the cause.

For more information about the cause, click on the following link:

http://www.cancer.org/Involved/Participate/CoachesvsCancer/about-coaches-vs-cancer

We look forward to seeing you at Cokely tonight and supporting the fight against cancer.

30 Point Scorers

Blue Jay Basketball Quiz Question:

Can you name the last four players to score 30 or more points in a game?

1. Denton Koon- 2011 vs St Joe Central; 34 points

2. Adam Trout- 2000 vs Lee's Summit North; 32 points

3. Nick Larson- 2006 vs William Chrisman; 31 points

4. Shaun Adams- 2009 vs William Chrisman; 30 points

Jays Battle Back to Beat SJC

After a solid first half against St Joe Central, which gave Liberty a nine point halftime lead, the Indians outscored the Jays 23-13 in the 3rd quarter. This made for an exciting game down the stretch. With the momentum in favor of SJC, the Jays used a left-handed tomahawk dunk by Denton Koon to get the Jays going again. Koon's dunk, along with his 32 other points, sparked the Jays and they won 66-61. For more about the game click on the link below:

http://www.kccommunitynews.com/liberty-tribune/26578879/detail.html#

The CW Stessman tourney was pleased to announce the members of the all-tournament team and the 2011 Hustle Award winner.

All-Tourney team

T. Kalinoski- Olathe East

C. Cook- Olathe East

A. Wiggins- Leavenworth

A. Jordan- Raytown

D. Koon- Liberty

Hustle Award Winner

A. Greenburg- Leavenworth

Tourney Is On As Scheduled

The CW Stessman Tourney is on as scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20th.

• Kearney vs Center @ 4:00pm


• Raytown vs Staley @ 5:30pm


• Leavenworth vs St. Joe Central @ 7:00pm


• Liberty vs Olathe East @ 8:30pm

BlueJays Sting Yellowjackets

The Jays won their opening round game of the CW Stessman basketball tourney 76-62 Tuesday night against Center. Players in double figure scoring were: Denton Koon, 22 pts; Isaiah Norfleet, 19 pts; Jordan Lewis, 14 pts.

For an on-line story about the game visit the Liberty Tribune website at the following link:

http://www.libertytribune.com/sports/boys-basketball/c.w.-stessman-tourney-update-first-round.html

Up next for the BlueJays is Olathe East on Thursday at 8:30pm. Go Jays.

Schedule for Wednesday, Jan. 12th

Practice will begin @ 2:00 following the girl's practice. It will be over by 4:15. Players must contact their coach if you can't make it due to the road conditions.

Schedule for Tuesday, Jan 11th

There will be practice today, Jan. 11th, from Noon-2:15. The gym will open at 11:15am. If you are unable to make it to practice due to the road conditions, you must contact your coach. The Sophomore game vs LS West has been cancelled. A make up date has yet to be determined.

Tournament Brackets

The JV and Varsity teams will be participating and hosting tournaments next week. The JV team will travel to William Chrisman HS on Monday, Jan. 17th and play Fort Osage at Noon. The winner of the game will play at Thursday, Jan 20th at 6:30.

The Varsity Jays will the CW Stessman tournament beginning Tuesday, Jan 18th. The Jays will play the Center Yellowjackets at 8:30 on Tuesday. A solid field has been selected to play in the tourney. Such teams as St Joe Central, Olathe East, Leavenworth, Staley, Raytown (under the direction of former LHS JV coach Brandon Weis), and last year's State Champions, Kearney will make for an excellent tourney.

The brackets can be found on the athletic website soon. http://athletics.liberty.k12.mo.us/jaysmbasketball

Weather Cancels Activities

There will be no practice for the HS team today and the 9th grade games vs Park Hill have been cancelled. Also, the gift exhange for the HS team will be postponed. Practices and games will resume tomorrow.

BlueJays Tame Panthers

The Liberty BlueJays displayed some heart and pride in defeating Park Hill South tonight at Cokely Fieldhouse by the score of 65-60. The Jays did not play well in the first half. Missing some layups and free-throws put them down by 12 at halftime. The 3rd quarter wasn't much better as Liberty trailed by as many as 18 points. However, the Jays didn't quit and battled back and made it a very exciting finish. Three players, Jordan Lewis, Ben Hansen, and most of all, Brandon Chapman hit some key three pointers to mount the comeback. Overall, the Jays won the 4th quarter 19-8 and scored the last 8 points of regulation to force overtime. It was Chapman's 3 with 15 secs left that knotted the game at 56 and then a great defensive play by Hansen to steal a pass and extend the game 4 more minutes.
In overtime, baskets by Denton Koon and Isaiah Norfleet gave the edge to the Jays and then Lewis made 4 of 4 free-throws to seal the game. Lewis finished with 16 and Norfleet had 13.
There's no rest for Liberty as they travel to Lee's Summit North on Friday in a huge conference game.
In addition, the Junior Varsity and Sophomore teams won this evening at Cokely. The Freshman team won as well against PH South 55-48.

BlueJays Tame Wildcats

The Liberty BlueJays got back into conference action Tuesday night with a road trip to Blue Springs. The Jays were victorious by a score of 63-40. Three players were in double figure scoring: Jordan Lewis, 16 pts; Denton Koon, 14 pts; Isaiah Norfleet, 12 pts.

"We were pleased with how we passed and shared the ball on offense and we thought the players did a very nice job of following the scouting report on defense. Overall, any time you can get a road win in our conference it's a quality win," stated Coach Stirtz.

Up next for the Jays is Park Hill South and Cokely Fieldhouse tonight.

Big Week for the BlueJays

The Jays begin a busy week of action this evening at Blue Springs then it's home contest verses Park Hill South on Wednesday. On Friday the Jays travel to Lee's Summit North to battle the Broncos.

Get your updates on the blog or twitter throughout the week.

Go Jays.