The Arizona team that improved the most during the course of the 2023-24 season took also home an official trophy Saturday afternoon.
Battling an O’Connor team that has played dominant basketball since it rolled out its full roster in the playoffs, #10 seed Liberty took a 47-42 lead thanks to a 14-point third quarter by Missouri-Kansas City-bound senior Ring Nyeri.
Then the young Lions joined in to keep #5 O’Connor at an arms length throughout the fourth quarter. Junior guard Stephan Miller scored seven of his 13 points, Jackson Hunter shook off a bad fall late to make two key free throws and Liberty won its first state basketball title, taking the 6A trophy with a 69-63 win.
