ST. CHARLES – Andrew Badra does not hear his name called during lineup introductions, nor does he exchange fist bumps at center court prior to the opening tip.
But when the Liberty junior enters a game midway through the first quarter, he most definitely announces his arrival.
Badra came of the bench to score a career-high 25 points, helping Liberty erase an early double-digit deficit and defeat Orchard Farm 57-47 to capture the championship of the 33rd annual Cougar Classic Boys Basketball Tournament Friday at Lutheran High School in St. Charles.
Liberty (5-0), which defeated Orchard Farm for the first time in program history, is off to its best start since the inception of the boys basketball program in 2014-15.
Orchard Farm (3-2) began the game with a surgical sharing of the ball. All five starters scored within the first five minutes, and when sixth-man Logan Hazel converted a tough runner through traffic, Orchard Farm built a 15-7 lead with 2:20 remaining in the first quarter.
“We really focus on moving the ball to get guys going,” Orchard Farm coach Mike Hohe said.
In the second quarter, Liberty moved into a 2-3 zone to try to entice Orchard Farm to settle for long range jumpers, but Orchard Farm did not take the bait. Instead, they fed senior Alex Wineholt inside the teeth of the zone.
A smooth, turnaround jumper by Wineholt produced a three-point play. Then, Wineholt received a pass at the foul line and kicked it out to sophomore Will Wolf for a right-wing triple that pushed the Orchard Farm lead to 24-13.
“I thought early we were letting them do what they wanted to do, and that’s not what makes us successful,” Liberty coach Chip Sodemann said.
While Liberty tried to solve the issues on the defensive end, Badra kept scoring. A strong putback resulted in a three-point play to slice the deficit to 24-16, with 14 of the 16 Liberty points coming from Badra.
Late in the half, Badra found senior Nolan Frey on a backdoor cut, then scored seven more points on tough drives to the rim that resulted in buckets, free throws or both.
Liberty cut the deficit to 31-27 at halftime, and Badra went to the locker room having already exceeded his career-high with 21 points – off the bench.
“I’ll do whatever we need to win,” Badra said about his sixth-man role. “I felt great tonight.”
Badra returned to the bench to open the second half, which forced other Liberty players to generate offense. It also helped Badra get a few extra minutes of rest.
“He was really gassed at halftime,” Sodemann said.
Senior Carter Ashby drained a corner 3 off an out-of-bounds play, and junior Ty Nickerson drained a straight-away 3 to bring Liberty within a point.
Nickerson scored all 13 of his points in the second half.
A slick post move by senior Aiden King gave Liberty its first lead of the game, 35-34, with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
“I think our guys realize that anybody can score on different nights. We’re capable of being balanced and we showed that,” Sodemann said.
Badra returned to action midway through the third quarter and quickly scored on a backdoor cut from King. Moments later, he flipped in an acrobatic, reverse layup that would have made Julius Erving nod in approval.
It was the final basket for Badra and provided the signature moment to highlight his magical night.
“It was a great experience. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” Badra said of his career-high performance.
Those Liberty teammates helped to ice the game away in the fourth quarter. Another backdoor feed from King to Frey opened the lead to double-digits. An impressive two dribble pull-up by Nickerson put the game out of reach.
“In the second half, our guys did a good job rebounding and we made some big buckets late that kept the lead,” Sodemann said.
For Orchard Farm, which played without starter Jorden Matlock, shots that fell in the first half rimmed out in the second half, and they were held to just 16 points over the final 16 minutes.
“I’m very proud of our guys. I thought we fought hard until the end,” Hohe said. “(Liberty) is a very good team. They’re undefeated for a reason.”
That reason may be the unselfish roles each player is willing to assume, most notably Badra, who leads Liberty in scoring at 16.4 points per game.
“We have lineups that we like together, and he knows his role. Right now, he’s our leading scorer and he’s coming off the bench. I think that’s a testament to him, and it’s a testament to all our guys who are understanding their roles as well,” Sodemann said.
And for Badra, it is that collective unselfishness that has Liberty off to an undefeated start after finishing with a 14-12 record last season.
“We’re all-around a better team. We don’t have that one guy. We have a bunch of really good players and we’ve been really consistent,” he said.