Liberty's Basketball Program on Fire to Start the Season
The Patriots made an early season statement with win over Mount Si.
RENTON, Wash. – When the game started, Jackson Whitaker was wearing No. 22. Then he was wearing No. 33. By the time the game was over, he was squeezing into what looked like a two-sizes-too-small No. 0.
The reason?
“There was a lot of blood,” Whitaker said with a laugh.
Whitaker’s not one, but two bloody jerseys were a testament to a physical matchup with Mount Si, last year’s 4A state champs, in a game the Patriots won, 72-69.
“Our coach always says, ‘make it bloody on the glass,’” Whitaker said. “I guess we made it bloody.”
Liberty (7-0) came out firing to open the game and built an early lead. The Wildcats (3-1) answered and the teams went back and forth throughout the night. After the game, Liberty coach Omar Parker wasn’t sure how many threes his team made, but it was the Patriots’ outside shooting that set the tone.
Click the link for a full photo gallery from Tuesday’s game.
“Obviously, it’s a great win against a great team,” Parker said. “Mount Si has a longstanding tradition. Liberty also has a longstanding tradition. We’ve won our share of games. I think it’s important, especially early in the season, for our guys’ confidence to win that game against such a high quality team and program.”
It helped that Liberty limited second-chance shots and were aggressive when chasing long rebounds on missed threes. However, led by junior Lattimore Ford, Mount Si erased a seven-point deficit in the final two minutes and had a chance to tie the game.
Ford was able to get to the basket, but Liberty senior Max Vermeulen blocked Ford’s shot from behind and senior guard Hansen Fan secured the rebound, triggering a Patriots celebration as time expired.
While the win is nice, it’s only December. There’s still a lot of basketball in front of both teams.
“We want to be our best come February,” Parker said. “Every day in practice, every game, between now and then is the chance to take a step forward. We might have taken two steps tonight.”
Former NBA Player Working with Liberty Players
Russ Schoene stood behind the Liberty bench, tucked away behind the bleachers, watching intently.
The 6-foot-10 former Seattle Sonics center has spent the past few years working as a volunteer assistant with the Patriots. And while he could sit on the bench, he prefers his secluded vantage point off to the side.
Because for Schoene, the practices are the fun part of the job these days.
“I like the assistant that’s just the volunteer vs. the guy that’s on staff,” Schoene said. “I can come when I can get here, but there’s no pressure. I love practice. I love talking to the kids, and that’s where you can make the biggest difference.”
Schoene has been working with Liberty since the pandemic, being introduced to Parker by Rick Turner (currently coaching the Jamaican men’s national 3x3 team - read Gregg Bishop’s story on Turner here), who Schoene coached with at Bellevue College.
“Omar runs a great program here,” Schoene said. “I’ve gotten to see what he does and how he teaches the kids, which is right up my alley and how I think about the game.
Now, this is the part where I admit that I had a bit of bias in talking to Schoene and, no, it’s not that he was once part of Washington’s coaching staff. I wanted to ask Schoene about the interesting series of events that led to a very brief stint with the Indiana Pacers (a team I’ve been a fan of since I was a kid).
After being drafted by the Sixers in the second round of the 1982 NBA draft, Schoene was traded to Indiana midseason.
“It was at the trade deadline my rookie year, so I was going to from the best team in the league to the worst team in the league at the time,” Schoene said.
Looking back, Schoene laughs, “It did translate to more playing time.”
That 2 1/2-month stretch of his rookie year was the only time he spent with the Pacers. He hurt his back and went to rehab in Italy before ending up in Seattle with the Sonics.
“I enjoyed Indianapolis,” Schoene said. “I almost bought a house there.”
Seattle, though, became home.
“I came out here and had three nice years with the Sonics,” Schoene said. “Then I wound up back in Italy again, but I never really left. I love the Northwest. I love the weather out here. I don’t mind the rain, so I wound up staying. It’s just beautiful.”
Living in the place he loves, coaching the game that brought him here, Schoene is making a difference where it matters most — with the kids on the practice floor.
Lattimore Ford is a Force Inside
Lattimore Ford is still only a junior.
Let that sink in for a moment. I’ll never forget the first time I watched the 6-foot-7 forward. Mount Si was playing Kentwood in the playoffs at Issaquah High School.
Sitting along the baseline, I watched as Ford easily caught an alley-oop and threw down a reverse dunk. The most athletic player on the floor that night, I couldn’t believe he was only a sophomore.
Against the Patriots, Ford showed his ability to get to the basket. And, if it hadn’t been for a great defensive play under the hoop, Ford would have sent the game into overtime.
With last season’s Mount Si backcourt – Trevor Hennig and Blake Forrest – playing in college, Ford has stepped into a starring role, making the Wildcats another state-title contender this season.
“Like most years, Mount Si is a 4A state contender,” Parker said. “When you roll out the ball in November, I think coach (Jason) Griffith probably looks at it and says, ‘how are we going to win another state championship?” They’re going to win a lot of games this year.”