Senior propels Liberty

Mychal Doblanski scored 38 points as the Leopards finished second in the TAC.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
LIBERTY -- Liberty High senior Mychal Doblanski put on a show in his final home game Friday night, pacing the Leopards to a 74-65 regular-season victory over Lakeview.
Even with the win, the Leopards (15-5, 10-4) finished in second place in the Trumbull Athletic Conference since the Bulldogs (15-5, 11-3) had clinched the league title on Thursday with a victory over LaBrae.
Doblanski ended his home career with a career-high 38-point performance while pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds. The 6-foot-1-inch standout was 15-of 23 from the field and 7 of 9 from the foul line.
Sluggish Bulldogs
Lakeview played the first quarter like a team that had just clinched the conference title and had little on the line as they fell behind 19-5.
"I'm not offering excuses but we did play three games in four days and we did our celebrating last night after the LaBrae win," Lakeview High coach George Lanterman said.
"We still came in here to win, but give Liberty credit they came ready to play tonight," Lanterman said. "Mychal Doblanski is an outstanding player and I was happy to see him have the big night in his final home game."
Liberty coach Burt Stellers was happy for his seniors.
"They come out ready to play every night and every day, but unfortunately we lost a couple of games that cost us a shot at the title," Stellers said.
"I was happy to see Mychal have a career-night in his final home game," Stellers said. "He works so hard at it and he showed tonight just how strong he is getting off some of those shots that were near impossible to make."
Leaders
While Doblanski led the way, the Leopards also got 11 points from Isaiah Bell.
The Bulldogs put four players in double figures led by Dustin Opalka with 20 points, including 9 of 10 from the foul line, while Robert Franks added 14, Mike Marando 13 and Mark Novotny 10.
Doblanski ignited the Leopards early as he scored 10 points in the opening quarter as Liberty jumped out to a 19-7 advantage.
Trailing 26-14 midway in the second quarter, the Bulldogs came to life scoring 13 straight points, six by Opalka and five by Jon Kittle to take their first lead of the game 27-26.
Doblanski came back to score two more baskets to offset a shot by Franks as Liberty held a 30-29 lead at intermission.
Taking control
The lead changed hands four times in the first two minutes of the third quarter before the Leopards took control on a 3-point shot by Jason White, 35-33, then pulled to a 55-48 margin after three quarters.
The Leopards scored only four baskets in the final eight minutes, two of them by Doblanski and two by Bell, but the Leopards were 11 of 13 from the foul line.
Lakeview had battled back to tie the contest 62-62 on a 3-point shot by Novotny with 2:36 remaining, but two buckets by Doblanski gave the Leopards a 66-63 lead.
The Leopards hit eight straight free throws down the final two minutes, four by White and two each by Barker and Doblanski to put the game away.
Liberty had a good shooting night from the field, hitting 27 of 46, and were 17 of 21 from the line while outrebounding the Bulldogs, 28-20.
Lakeview was 21 of 52 from the field and 16 of 21 from the line.
mollica@vindy.com