CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Over the last seven seasons, Sam Liggins has logged countless hours at the Lutheran High School East gymnasium.
“When we first started, it was kind of rocky, and now we’re on top,” said Liggins.
When Liggins became head coach of the Falcons’ boys basketball program, the foundation he set was based on character.
“We have always based our program around character — just developing strong young men and teaching them core values of selflessness, being humble, being coachable and being a servant. Taking those values and instilling them into the basketball game has been very pivotal for our program, and our kids have really bought into that process,” said Liggins.
Spoiler — it’s worked. Lutheran East topped previously unbeaten Columbus Academy 53-49 in the OHSAA Division V State Championship on Saturday in Dayton, Ohio. It marked the program's 3rd straight state title.
“It feels great. It’s hitting me hard right now,” said freshman guard Dylan Zeigler after the victory.
“A lot of people thought this was gonna be a down year, so we kind of just took that as motivation,” said junior forward TJ Crumble.
“This is what we were looking for all year. Coach Sam just preached to us how we’re a young team, so we just wanted to win it for Coach Sam,” said sophomore guard Chris Hill.
“It’s a really unbelievable feeling to do it here at Lutheran High School East. Our school is not the biggest school. It’s a small school, but we have an outstanding administration, outstanding coaching staff, great student body, great families and none of this happens without them. It truly takes a village,” said Liggins.
The Falcons won the title with an 8-man roster that consisted of just two juniors and no seniors.
“Our goal is the state championship and, given that we had a young team this year, I didn’t know how far we could really make it, honestly. It was really up to them and how well they bought in, how fast they developed and grew,” said Liggins.
The Falcons are just the 5th boys program in the state to three-peat. With a young and hungry squad, they’re just getting started.
“They did an unbelievable job at growing up fast and actually buying into the culture here. I’m super impressed with those guys because young teams typically don’t get it that fast, but they were able to get it immediately. We’ve got a special group here,” said Liggins.
Lutheran East Boys Basketball now has five state titles to its name.
Carly Mascitti is a sports anchor at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @carlymascitti.
