New champions: Liberty basketball derails Gorman’s title streak

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022 | 8:47 p.m.

Members of the Liberty High basketball team took turns bringing the state championship trophy around the court at Lawlor Events Center.

The Patriots had just done the unthinkable in ending Bishop Gorman’s championship run at nine consecutive titles with a dramatic 63-62 overtime win and everyone seemingly wanted to join in the celebration.

Cheerleaders and parents were crying, players were hugging and rejoicing in the accomplishment, and there were plenty of pictures being taken to document the moment.

By time the players got back to meet coach Kevin Soares, it was his turn to hoist the trophy — finally. Junior guard Angelo Kambala handed the hardware to his coach, pausing and saying with sincerity, “Coach Soares, this is you for you.”

Soares has long been considered one of Southern Nevada’s best coaches, spending most of his career at Foothill, where he built Henderson’s best program and produced winning teams despite having few Division I players.

But to be considered the best, you have to be a champion. And, after 25 years, that’s exactly what Soares has become.

“He is just a great, phenomenal coach,” Kambala said. “He’ll put us through hell in practice and then be right there to pick us back up. We trusted in his game plan.”

The Patriots lost to Gorman three times this season, including a double-digit defeat last week in the regional championship game. Gorman simply ran Liberty off the court with its speed and player depth, and Soares knew the only way to flip the result in the state championship game would be to slow down the pace of the game.

His strategy worked.

The teams exchanged baskets for most of the game before Gorman built an eight-point advantage at the end of the third quarter. Instead of being blown out in the fourth quarter like last week, Kambala drained a pair of fourth quarter 3-pointers and the Patriots hung tough.

Soon, it was a back and forth game.

DJ Thomas, a sophomore point guard, scored on a few tough drives to the basket in finishing with a game-high 20 points. He opened overtime with a basket, and Liberty would never trail again.

“In order to be the best, you have to beat the best and they have been beating everyone in this state the past decade,” Soares said.

Liberty led 63-59 in the final moments when John Mobley Jr. drained a 3-pointer for Gorman with 2.3 seconds to play. After a timeout, Gorman’s Ryan Abelman stole the end bounds pass in the corner, but his desperation heave at the buzzer was well short.

Gorman entered with a 30-0 record and top-10 national ranking. But it came up short on a 10th straight championship, only losing its second game to a Nevada foe in the 11 years. The 2020-21 season was canceled because of the pandemic.

“We just didn’t get it done,” Gorman coach Grant Rice said. “Liberty did a good job. They battled all year. They are a good team and deserving. I am proud of our team. We won 30 games, obviously we wanted 31.”

Along the way, many teams had come close to dethroning Gorman, including Liberty. Two years ago, the Patriots lost at the buzzer in a playoff game — something senior leader Joshua Jefferson has used as motivation the past two years.

Beating Gorman became his obsession. He patiently waited for this night, which included being knocked down many times. Liberty blew a double digit lead in December against Gorman in a double overtime loss.

“We never lost our focus or confidence,” Jefferson said. “We had the mission at the beginning of the year and we completed it.”

This likely won’t be the last you see of the Gorman-Liberty rivalry.

Gorman will be loaded the next few seasons with sophomores Mobley, Jase Richardson (seven points) and Ryder Elisaldez (nine points), and freshman Chris Nwuli (nine points). Liberty has Thomas and Kambala.

And now Liberty has a championship winning coach.

“I love this,” Soares said looking at his players celebrate. “This is what it is all about. They won this game, not me.”