Liberty High School Summer Outlook
Liberty High School’s incoming team had a lot of question marks that the group hoped to answer this summer. Many of the questions come from the fact that they graduated 7 seniors with 3 (Cole Trout, Dustin Trout, and Mo…
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Continue ReadingLiberty High School’s incoming team had a lot of question marks that the group hoped to answer this summer. Many of the questions come from the fact that they graduated 7 seniors with 3 (Cole Trout, Dustin Trout, and Mo Archer) of them being players who either started or attained significant minutes as Juniors and Seniors. The Trout brothers brought high basketball IQs as well as an ability to extend the court with shooting while Archer was largely an X-Factor who was the emotional leader of the team. He led the team in rebounding and was great in providing a physical and athletic presence for the team.
With all of that said, this group has plenty of talent coming back and they demonstrated that much during their summer endeavors. The group had a great showing at the Best in Basketball Summer Invitational and Central Summer 64 Jamboree. Summer basketball does not necessarily guarantee that a team will be successful in the season. However, it is quite impressive that Liberty was able to beat teams like Sunnyslope, McClintock, Sunrise Mountain, and Paradise Valley.
If you haven’t seen Liberty play, find time to go and watch as Head Coach Mark Wood has implemented a fast paced style of basketball that utilizes frequent substitutions, traps, and quick but quality shots. Liberty has a number of guys who are capable of extending the court and getting hot from deep. This can cause nightmares and headaches for opponents.
Some of the players that college coaches, fans, and opposing coaches need to be on the lookout for are 2017 PG/SG 5’10” Cole Roether, 2017 5’7″ PG/SG Dom Ciccaglione, and 2019 5’9″ PG/SG Jacob Edahl. All three of these players are capable of going on runs and knocking down shots. In addition, they are all very active defensively as they get hands on passes and create opportunities for themselves and others.
Cole Roether sometimes gets mis-classified as a shooter. Although he does a great job shooting the basketball off the catch and shoot as well as off the dribble, he is very talented at creating shots for himself off the dribble. His ability to take guys off the dribble and using jab steps is huge as defenders have to closeout outside of the three point line.
Dom Ciccaglione is a talented and crafty lefty who is very quick and a talented shooter. He is skilled at getting by the first defender and drawing help side. Once getting the help side rotation, he has a high enough basketball IQ and is selfless enough to kick to the open teammate.
Jacob Edahl is the brother of a former talented Liberty Lion and a current Arizona Christian University Firestorm student-athlete, Matt Edahl. Unlike many players who have talented older siblings, Jacob does not rely on the talent of his older brother. He is a quality shooter who is constantly improving his ability to create off the dribble. He has a good basketball IQ and a feel for where the next pass might be coming from. He had a very impressive freshman year and many are expecting him to take another step forward now that he is a sophomore and he is used to the the varsity ranks.
Be on the lookout for Liberty next year as they have shooters, intelligence, and will tire the vast majority of their opponents. This team could make an intriguing run, especially now that the team has moved to 5A. They will not be afraid to play anyone and they play with a chip on their shoulders. This should be a very fun team to watch next season.