The Liberty Christian Eagles overcame an 11-point fourth quarter deficit with a furious late rally to force overtime, but ultimately fell to Christian Fellowship during Friday’s clash. 

Liberty Christian (2-10) fell to Christian Fellowship 67-61 in overtime. The Eagles ended the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run to erase a 55-44 fourth quarter deficit. Willie Mueller hit one of two free throws with under two seconds remaining to tie the game and send the Eagles to overtime. 

“Our defensive pressure was decent the last half of the fourth quarter,” Liberty Christian basketball coach Butch Clark said. “We tried to amp it up and create a little to hopefully get a turnover or two. We were able to create a few and then scored a few buckets in transition. That helped.” 

Mueller converted a three-point play to start the rally. Levi Coovert scored a basket to cut the Christian Fellowship lead to six points. Jack Duvel hit two free throws and Zach Dames scored a basket to cut the deficit to two points. Dames hit one of two free throws after Christian Fellowship was called for a technical foul. With under 15 seconds remaining, the Eagles had a couple attempts to take the lead. 

“We didn’t really get what we wanted,” Clark said. “But their defense had a lot to do with it. We were hoping when we set them up high, we could walk them down, get the ball out to the wing and run somebody off the back screen. But it never came close to getting there.”

Mueller was fouled with 1.8 seconds remaining. After missing the first free throw, he connected on the second attempt. Christian Fellowship did not score at the end of the quarter and the game headed to overtime. 

“The fact that we played a close game was probably good,” Clark said. “I hate to say that. But we could have caved when we were down 10. It’s hard. We had a shot to win it. If we hit two free throws there with 1.8 seconds, we walk out with a win. But those are hard free throws to hit.” 

Clark added the Eagles had chances to convert other free throws throughout the game that could have helped the Eagles win the game. 

Christian Fellowship started the overtime period on a 7-0 run and never looked back in their six-point win. 

Despite not coming away with a win, Clark was proud of the Eagles’ effort throughout the game. They only have one senior on the roster this season. 

"We’ve got a young group on the court,” Clark said. “We’re starting a freshman and an eighth grader. And then we’ve got a sophomore and a junior and a senior. We don’t have a lot of experience out there. From that standpoint, I’m pleased. We played hard. We didn’t always play good but the effort was there. I can’t complain about that.”

Liberty Christian led 14-11 after one quarter but fell behind 24-18 at halftime. The Eagles trimmed the Christian Fellowship lead to three points at 29-26 before Christian Fellowship senior Declan Lademann hit three consecutive three-pointers to give Christian Fellowship a 38-26 lead. 

Zach Dames and Jack Duvel scored 39 of the team’s 61 points in the loss. Dames led the Eagles with 22 points. Duvel added 17 points. Eighth grader Levi Coovert scored 12 points. Mueller chipped in with 10 points and led the Eagles with nine rebounds. 

Liberty Christian was scheduled to play at Wellsville-Middletown Tuesday. They will play at Elsberry next week.