Lincoln-Liberty girls meet again in rivalry match

When Lincoln and Liberty Middle School in Edwardsville meet in any type of sport, records are thrown out and the cross-community rivalry ensues.

 This week’s Liberty-Lincoln Middle School girls’ basketball contest at Lincoln was no different, with Liberty winning the seventh-grade game and Lincoln the eighth-grade matchup.

 “For Liberty against Lincoln, the crowd gets excited,” Liberty/Lincoln athletic director and vice principal Ryan Ketchum said. “No matter we do, the girls are good friends across buildings, but also so competitive with each other. They really enjoy this Lincoln and Liberty matchup.”

 Liberty and Lincoln are both part of the Madison County Conference for middle schools and the game normally has some merit in the conference standings.

 “The band plays at the game and everybody gets hyped up,” Ketchum said. “I see so many girls and boys basketball, but for this game the kids get all fired up. After this game all the Lincoln girls were hugging each other.”

 The gymnasium was about three-quarters full even though the seventh-grade game started right after school dismissed.

 “For Liberty vs. Lincoln the crowd gets excited,” he said. “The girls had two meetings; the boys do the same with basketball. It is very similar in football, except Lincoln and Liberty only play one game.”

 Last year, Liberty had one of the better girls basketball teams ever, Ketchum said. Rachel Ranger and a variety of other girls led that team.

 “Last year’s Liberty team was one a coach gets once in a career,” he added.

Ketchum said he appreciates the support of the Edwardsville School District administration. One of the things the athletic director admires most about the Edwardsville athletic program is how the middle school coaches work directly with high school coaches.

 “The coaches are getting the athletes prepared for high school so it is a seamless transition to high school,” Ketchum said. “The middle school coaches are in constant communication with the high school coaches and run similar sets as the high school team. The middle school teams don’t have near the schematics as the high school teams, but they do a basic set similar to the high school.”

 Ketchum is in his fourth year as athletic director of Liberty and Lincoln. He said he loves his job and working with the coaches and athletes.