'They just wanted it more than anything'

VAN BUREN – Van Buren's boys basketball team has nine seniors.They had never beaten Liberty-Benton.Black Knights coach Mark Bunn has led the program for a few years; he also had a tenure as Van Buren's volleyball coach."I haven't beaten L-B," Bunn said Friday night, after Van Buren topped the Eagles, 51-43 in a matchup of Blanchard Valley Conference unbeatens "I did it as a JV coach, not a varsity coach."They just wanted it more than anything."Van Buren trailed most of the first half, and went down 28-20 after a pair of free throws by L-B's Lincoln Holler about halfway through the third.Then, the Black Knights went on a run that changed the game.Brady Lance hit a 3 from the wing, then, after VB forced a turnover, converted a layup to cut the deficit to 28-25.Anikin Ortega connected on a hook shot, trimming the L-B advantage to a point with 2:42 left in the period.A Grady Miller free throw tied the game, then Ortega hit again on a jumper, and the Black Knights led, 30-28."Basketball's a game of runs," said Van Buren senior Finn Martin, who finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. "My dad and I talk about it all the time during March Madness. We find the stride, keep going, don't look back."Even though L-B made things tight a few times in the fourth quarter, Van Buren never lost the lead. It improved to 5-1, 4-0 in the BVC, and defeated the Eagles for the first time since Dec. 21, 2018."Hats off to coach Bunn and Van Buren," said Liberty-Benton coach Doug Whiteman. "He had his guys ready to go. They were, by far, the more tougher team. They just out-toughed us from the tip to the end."Liberty-Benton finished with 22 turnovers, eight of which came in the third quarter. In the fourth, a steal and layup by Van Buren's Will Rampe pushed the Knights' advantage to 45-36 with 3:15 remaining.L-B didn't fold.Holler hit a straight away 3, then Reid Irwin connected on a jumper, cutting the VB lead to 45-41 with 2:32 left.But L-B, despite having a number of looks late, wasn't able to cut deeper into the deficit."We showed some fight. We have tough kids who have been through it," Whiteman said, "but the reality right now is we just don't have enough guys doing the things that we're asking, and ultimately, they were just tougher and wanted it more. Every time we got close, they had an answer."A big difference was at the free throw line. Van Buren wasn't outstanding at the stripe, but finished 14 of 29.L-B was 3 of 3."Just make the foul shots. We preach it every day," Bunn said. "I don't think we shot well, maybe 50 percent, but hey, 50 percent won the game for us. Down the stretch, we made them when we needed to."All four of the Black Knights BVC wins have been by single digits. They won Friday despite six miscues in the fourth quarter, and 14 in the game."Thankfully, we've kind of been in these situations with Arlington and Arcadia, where it's been tight games," Bunn said. "We've had some bundle turnovers, but we keep learning… and we're fixing some of those things, and we got better. I think that helped us down the stretch in this game."For the Black Knights, Rampe led with 15 points, Alex Homan scored 11.Holler paced Liberty-Benton with 23 points and 12 rebounds, but he was the only Eagle to score more than six points."Lincoln's a special player, special person," Whiteman said. "I feel for him a little bit, because at times, we haven't been able to help him very much. I gotta do a better job of finding ways to help him out a little bit."Both teams play road games today. Van Buren – winner of five straight -- travels to Bluffton"This is pretty monumental," Bunn said of Friday's win. "But we've still got a lot of work to do."Meanwhile, the Eagles travel to Kenton."Great thing about basketball is you get another chance tomorrow to go out and try to turn it around," Whiteman said. LIBERTY-BENTON (5-3, 3-1 BVC) Irwin 3-0—6; Conaway 3-0—6; Thomas 1-0—2; Holler 9-3—23; Gerken 3-0—6. TOTALS: 19-45---3-3—43. VAN BUREN (6-1, 4-0 BVC) Ortega 2-1—5; Bishop 1-0—2; Lance 2-3—8; Martin 4-0—8; Homan 3-4-11; Rampe 5-5—15. TOTALS 17-47—15-29—51. Liberty-Benton 12 10 8 13 – 43 Van Buren 10 8 13 20 – 51 3-POINT GOALS: Van Buren 2-16 (Holler 2); Van Buren 1-11 (Lance, Homan) REBOUNDS: Liberty-Benton 29 (Holler 12); Van Buren 30 (Martin 10) TURNOVERS: Liberty-Benton 22; Van Buren 14. JUNIOR VARSITY: Van Buren, 37-34.