Libertore Drops In School Record 51 in Leopards Win Over Dukes
Louisville 79, Marlington 62
The Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Basketball Team earned a 79-62 win over the host Marlington Dukes at Marlington High School Friday Night. 
With the victory, Louisville improves to 10-7 overall with a 9-2 mark in the NBC.
Chris Libertore awed the crowd by scoring a school record 51 points to lead the Leopards. Libertore scored 10 in the first quarter, 11 in the second quarter, was limited to 4 in the third quarter, and then exploded for 26 points in the final period. Bart Keiser held the previous Leopards single game scoring record with 49 during an 88-56 road victory against the Oakwood Golden Raiders on January 15, 1971.
Libertore was lights out in shooting 70% from the field (16 of 23) and 67% from beyond the arch (6 of 9). He flushed home 4 three-pointers in the final period and helped put the game away by making 9 of 10 free throws to finish 93% (13 of 14) from the line for the game.
Donate to Leopard Nation
His efforts helped the Leopards overcome a furious Dukes second half rally. Marlington’s Andrew Brady scored 15 of his team-high 25 points in the 
first half, yet Louisville still held a comfortable 37-24 lead at the break. The Dukes stormed back to cut that deficit to 49-46 by the end of the third quarter and got to within 52-51 near the beginning of the fourth period.
However, the Leopards never surrendered their lead as Libertore willed Louisville to victory. The Leopards scored 30 points in the fourth quarter, the most under Head Coach Tom Siegfried eclipsing a 29 point first quarter against the Alliance Aviators on February 13, 2015. Jared Mathie scored 4 points in the final period, Libertore scored the rest.
Other leading scorers for the Leopards included Brody Hahn with 8 and Brandon Wahl with 7. Each made a pair of three-pointers as Louisville hit 10 shots from downtown as a team.
Outside of Brady’s 25, Marlington (7-8, 5-5) was led by Brock Himmelheber who ended his evening with 12. Drew Adams and Blane Himmelheber also scored 9 a piece.
With the victory, the Leopards have now won 6 of their last 7 games against the Dukes including the last 3 at MHS. Louisville now leads the all-time series 67-39 with a 30-20 mark in games played at Marlington.
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next host the Minerva Lions on Tuesday, February 7. JV will start at 6:00 PM and Varsity will follow around 7:30 PM.
Pictures
View & Purchase Louisville Leopards Pictures on the Jim & Laura Photography Website
