City of Basketball Love

Rob Rose (@RobRoseSports)
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Each time George School breaks the huddle the motto is the same — All In.

The phrase is even in head coach Ben Luber’s Twitter bio, so it’s no surprise that sophomore point guard Christian Bliss took George School’s saying literally on Saturday night at Archbishop Wood.

Bliss was nearly unguardable at times as he lit up the Vikings’ defense en route to 22 points as the playmaker led his team to an early season 66-65 upset win to close out the Diane Mosco Shootout in style.

“The ball needed to go in the hoop and Christian just knew that,” Luber said. “I think that he has an ability to just put that ball in the hoop and once he builds up a little momentum, he gets hot. He can go for 40 any night, and I let him go because I believe in him. You can’t teach what he already does. He’s going to be playing this game for a while.”

Luber has been building the George School program up since he took over in 2019. He didn’t coach any of the team’s four games in 2020 due to family health concerns during the pandemic, so he was excited to get back to basketball before he saw what his rebuilt squad would look like.

The first piece of Luber’s new vision for the team was junior Kachi Nzeh. The 6-8, 210-pound paint presence was Luber’s first recruit and he showed why several NCAA Division I coaches are calling him in his performance again the Vikings.

Nzeh dunked on multiple Archbishop Wood defenders with several big-time slams. The junior battled through early foul trouble to finish with 14 points and played a big part for the Cougars to clinch the win.

“I’m an energy guy. I like to put a show on for the crowd, so that’s what I did today,” Nzeh said.

With Nzeh in early foul trouble and 6-10 center Gestin Liberis ineligible to play due to PIAA rules (George School, a non-PIAA school, can have fifth-years on the roster), the offensive responsibilities fell to Bliss. Wood took advantage and pulled ahead, but Bliss caught fire and ended the first quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer and the lead for his team.

Bliss (above) was hitting pull-up jumpers from all over the court.
(Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

The 6-3 guard, who holds four Division I offers, including one from Drexel, routinely broke down defenders and pulled up with Wood players right in his face, but continued to bury jumpshots over them despite the solid defense.

“I practice those shots every single day with no one in the gym, so when someone is there it's no different for me, just rise up and shoot it right over my defender,” Bliss said. “That's just something I'm trying to practice; just getting to my spot and pulling up (and) I think I really showcase that today.”

It wasn’t an entirely blissful night for Luber on the bench. While his team impressed him with their ability to beat a team with a lot of returning talent, they stressed him out a little bit down the stretch.

Bliss beat himself up postgame for missing a free throw with 11.7 seconds left and threw the ball away trying to find Nzeh seconds earlier while they worked the clock. The Cougars also couldn’t score a point for the final four minutes of the game.

Wood had a chance to take the lead late on a steal by senior point guard and Drexel commit Justin Moore, but couldn’t convert.

George School senior Evan Hefflefinger blocked a shot by Wood senior Mike Knouse in the closing seconds and Knouse’ follow-up attempt fell short to seal the George School win.

Moore finished with 12 points, but guards Tyson Allen and Jalil Bethea led Wood with 16 points each. Although he came off the bench, Bethea showcased the skills that earned him recent offers from NCAA D-I programs Radford and Mount St. Mary’s. At 6-4 as a sophomore, Bethea flashed his bounce with a big fastbreak dunk and shooting ability with a couple deep 3-pointers.

George School wasn’t supposed to even play this game, but took the chance once Bishop McNamara (Md.) dropped out during the week. Luber was just proud that his players wanted to delay their Christmas break and take on the challenge against a team that reached the state championship last season.

So, to come away with a road win without one of their key players was a sign that the program has made real progress since Luber took over two years ago after one of the biggest wins during his time with the team.

“This was definitely up there,” Luber said. “As far as an experience is concerned, this was one of the best experiences we've had. On the road at a great team's house, one of the best teams in the state every single year, and we're just kind of turning the corner, so it's good for George School.”

By Quarter

George School:       22  |  17  |  20  |   7  ||  66

Archbishop Wood:   16  |  19  |  16  | 14  ||  65

Scoring

George School: Christian Bliss 22, Kachi Nzeh 14, Zach White 10, Dante Weise 7, Kendall Gordon 5, Evan Hefflefinger 5, Kyle Anderson 3.

Archbishop Wood: Jalil Bethea 16, Tyson Allen 16, Justin Moore 12, Mike Knouse 9, Carson Howard 6, Bahsil Laster 6