Kenneth Manoj is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Liberty High School for AZPreps365.com

The Liberty Lions continued their dominant start to the season with an 88-69 victory over Chaparral on Tuesday night. Sophomore Davis Hester led the way for the Lions with 19 points as he connected on five 3-point attempts. 

From the outset, Liberty (8-0) made it clear that 3-point shooting would be the difference in the game. Hester drilled his first three attempts in the first quarter and seniors Miles Guliford and Patrick Steitz each hit a three of their own.

In the second quarter, the shots kept dropping for Liberty as Steitz added two more threes. Five different Liberty players scored a 3-pointer in the quarter. By the end of the game, Liberty had outshot Chaparral 16-0 from 3-point range.

“We’re trying to get 40 [3-pointers] up a game,” Liberty coach Mark Wood said.  “We can’t shoot enough of them. We want threes or [shots] at the rim."

Wood spoke at length about his pleasure with the undefeated start to the season, but more than that he praised his players for their approach.

"These guys have character, integrity, and belief and trust in one another, and they just feel true to the process that [everything else] will take care of itself," he said. "The 8-0 is just further proof of that philosophy playing out.”

For Chaparral, junior Jalin Humphrey scored 15 points, and seniors Sebastian Van Laarhoven and Matthew Buechner each contributed 14. 

Liberty will host Sunrise Mountain (6-3) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Chaparral (4-5) will host Mesa Mountain View (5-3) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.