Leopards Lose Grasp on NBC After Loss to Aviators – Boys Basketball
Alliance 54, Louisville 50
The Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Basketball Team fell to the visiting Alliance Aviators 54-50 Friday Night at Louisville High School. With the loss, Louisville drops to 9-7 overall and is now tied with Alliance for first place in the NBC with a league record of 8-2.
Chris Libertore scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Leopards. Brandon Wahl also hit 3 of Louisville’s 6 three-pointers to finish with 14 and Jared Mathie also hit a pair of triples to tally 12.
The Aviators took off at the start in flying out to a 20-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. They continued to lead into the second quarter where they pulled ahead 26-13 with 3:04 left before halftime. The Leopards answered back by closing the quarter on a 10-1 run and trailed just 27-23 heading into the locker room.
Louisville continued to rally back. Near the end of the third quarter the Leopards scored 7 straight points and took the lead at 40-38 when Mathie hit a three-pointer from the left corner with 1:15 to play. Alliance struck back and the game was knotted at 43-43 heading into the fourth quarter.
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The Leopards got possession first in the final period and Mathie drove to the hole to score just 10 seconds in. Louisville would not score again from the field for nearly 6 minutes. The Aviators took leads of 50-45 and 52-47 before Wahl cashed in a three-pointer from the right corner after a cross court pass from Brody Hahn.
With a 52-50 lead and under two minutes to play, Alliance struggled to put the game away. The Aviators managed to make just 3 of 12 free throws in the final period and only 1 of their last 7. This gave the Leopards several chances to tie the game, but the shots would not drop.
The Aviators (11-3, 8-2) were led by DJ Hancock who dropped in a game-high 15. Sarrick Sampson also powered home 13 points and Anthony Thomas scored 9.
This was the 60th meeting between the two teams since 1928, with Alliance taking 3 out of the last 4. The Aviators now lead the all-time series 43-17.
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next travel to Marlington to take on the Dukes on Friday, February 3. JV will begin at 6:00 PM
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Cover Photo By Jim & Laura Photography
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