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LIBERTY HILL—100. It is one of the most well-known numbers in American arithmetic. It’s not so good in golf but great in school. It’s too much fever and too many heartbeats, but the percentile guys love it. It’s a lousy batting average, but it’s a heck of a gain on the gridiron. It’s not such a big deal in the NBA, but college teams are proud of it, and high school? Almost impossible in a 32 minute game.

The Panthers of Liberty Hill erased the first two words of that last sentence when Robert Koepl, with two minutes, 18 seconds left, hit his sixth and seventh free throws in seven attempts in the fourth quarter. Liberty Hill scored no more but was quite satisfied with a 100-34 win over Llano, January 20.

“It’s exciting because all the boys feel like they had a part in it,” said Barry Boren, who framed his second milestone against the Jackets. A year ago he won his 500th game as a head coach in the Llano gym.

He’s in his 10th year at Liberty Hill. “We graduated 10 guys last year, so the jury was out on how we’d do this season. We were 30-5 three years in a row, and the six seniors who returned told me in the spring they didn’t want to let tradition down.”

The jury wasn’t out long, and regular-season tradition lives: a 25-4 record, 3-0 in district.

The merciless night for Llano began seconds after the opening tip. Three threes helped stake Liberty Hill to a 24-1 lead after a period, and the well-known Panther press was stifling.

“We had the same amount of shots that they did,” Jackets’ head coach Keith Allen said, “but they were shooting with a lot of confidence, and we weren’t.”

“We don’t cause as many turnovers with the press as we have in the past,” Boren explained, “but we shoot better.”

The full-court defense persisted in the second period, as the overwhelming spread grew to 40-1. Shane LaCaille had 10 points in the first half, while 6’7” Blake Danielak and Stephen Graves had nine each. All 10 in home white had points before the break. The landslide ledger was 48-15.

The game got a bit testy at times with the officials conferring with both coaches. Allen commented, “I’m extremely proud of how our guys carried themselves and handled their emotions, when they easily could have cashed it in and shown a dark side.”

The journey to 100 did not seem probable until a furious third quarter. Eight Panthers hit at least one field goal, and the team posted 30 points. The advantage was 78-28. In the fourth, no tortoise could catch Blake Hare, who mailed in two threes, and he had come off the bench to score a game-high 19 points.

“Hare was nearly cut as a freshman, quit as a sophomore,” but he came back, and, “he has a knack for knocking down shots.”

Boren did indeed substitute freely, but the formidable press remained part of the plot until 2:39 remained on the clock. “We could have gone to a half-court defense,” he admitted, “but when we do that our guys get stagnant, standing around. That’s not how we play, and, this early in district, I wanted us to move forward.”

Allen refused to start a controversy, especially with someone like Boren who is a good friend. “It is what it is,” were his public thoughts.

Can the Jackets shake this off, forget about it? Coach: “We’re going to get out of this place as fast as we can, as fast as the bus can drive.”