Is Liberty's boys basketball team ready for NCS's Open Division? After scoring 115 points, signs point positively

In coach Joh Heinz' 18th and final season, Lions are young, hungry, aggressive and 'looking to take the next step'

Liberty sophomore Jaiden Miller leads the 24-2 Lions in scoring, assists and steals heading into the North Coast Section playoffs / Photo: Mike Bouffard

BY JOEY ACE

BRENTWOOD, CALIFORNIA — The best kept secret among the North Coast Section’s top boys basketball programs is likely way out yonder, in the Eastern most pocket of Contra Costa County. 

That’s where the Lions of Liberty reside, sporting a sparkling 24-2 mark after recording their fifth undefeated Bay Valley Athletic League season in seven years, far from the hustle, bustle and top prospects of the inner most Bay Area.  

When the North Coast Section seeding committee decides Sunday just where to place Liberty, the Lions hope it’s among the power elite in the Open Division. 

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Coach Jon Heinz, in his 18th and final season, might want to send the committee tape of his team’s last home game on the eve of Super Bowl weekend on Feb. 7.  

Displaying a symphony of three-point splashes, quick steals, and thunderous dunks, host Liberty  gave a staggering 115-38 beat down on the overmatched and depleted Deer Valley Wolverines, who suited up just five players and featured not a single player taller than 6 feet. 

The 115 points, led by the team’s lone three seniors on Senior Night, Andrew Vixon (37 points), Mekhi Reed (25) and Alex Zenn Dash (23), is believed to be a school record. 

Liberty 6-3 senior Andrew Vixon is a high flyer, shot blocker and tough rebounder for the 24-2 Lions who have won 40 straight games against BVAL opponents / Photo: Mike Bouffard

Considering the school has been around since 1902, that’s saying something. 

But Heinz didn't have a lot of superlatives to say about the lopsided win. He would have rather played a more competitive game to prepare him for what lies ahead. They got that a few days later at their toughest BVAL rival Heritage-Brentwood, posting a 65-54 win to extend their win streak to 40 games over BVAL opponents, 38 during the regular season. 

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Besides that, the Lions scored plenty of quality nonleague wins, including over Sac-Joaquin Section perennial standouts Vanden (72-66), Weston Ranch (74-61), Natomas (77-60) and Grant (61-52), along with often state-ranked Southern Section juggernaut Bishop Montgomery (79-54), one of three impressive wins at the Santa Barbara Holiday Classic.

“We’re looking forward to the playoffs beginning,” Heinz said after the Deer Valley blowout. “To win five league titles in seven years and go undefeated in all those years is an amazing accomplishment. But we want more. We’re hungry.”

No curling up

That was evident even against an overmatched team. The Lions never curled up. Never looked the other way or took their foot off the proverbial gas pedal. They played hungry and ferocious, at times causing Heinz to squint, especially knowing what it was like to be on the other end of lopsided losses, though never by 77. 

“The year before I got here this program was 2-24,” he said. “I thought I would turn it around immediately, but it took some time. To turn around the program and be competitive every year in the league has been awesome.” 

Liberty boys basketball coach Jon Heinz says this his 18th and final season. He'll leave as the school's all-time winningest coach. / Photo: Joey Ace

Indeed, Heinz’ first four seasons were 10-17, 7-19, 4-21 and 11-15. But with a 21-7 campaign in 2011-12, the Lions have been on their winning ways ever since, and their championship BVAL trek since 2021-22. They haven’t lost to a league opponent since the spring COVID year of 2020-21. 

Last season’s 25-4 squad was the high-water mark and with his son Josh Heinz, a senior guard on the squad, he thought he might hang it up. 

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But he was also three wins shy of the late Jerry Miller’s school record of 260 wins. He’s now put some distance between that mark (282 and counting) and leaving a challenge for current co-head coach Rich Morton, who will take over fully next season, and potentially others down the road to break.  

With a dynasty laying this long success comes from more than just a few star players, it's engrained into the program's DNA. 

When asked what was a factor in sustaining the dominance over different rosters, Heinz credited the consistency of the coaching staff. He announced before the season this would be his last and that Morton would take over in 2025-26.

Liberty junior shooting guard Dante Vigil has earned All-BVAL honors. / Photo: Michael Bouffard

“We’ve all been together for a long time," he said. "Coach Rich has been in the program for seven years, and Mike Gregory has been with us for nine years. We’ve built that winning culture that hopefully it keeps going long after I’m gone.” 

Even in a blowout that winning culture perpetuated by the coaching staff was evident against Deer Valley. Before the game Liberty ran several half-court scrimmages and practice plays, during which time most teams opt to run extra layup lines, Liberty had already put in a full quarter's worth of action before even tipoff. 

As cohesive as the coaching staff is, the Lions have a roster to match. It starts athletically with Vixon.

 Vixon the rim destroyer

His 37 points were a career high, to go along with double digits in rebounds and multiple steals and blocks. 

The All-BVAL standout plays much taller than his 6-3 frame.  

Early in the first quarter Vixon ran the court after a turnover and pulled off a vicious dunk, and then stole the ball off the inbound, and unleashed a standing slam that set the home crowd on fire. They were two dunks of many. He was just getting started. 

Liberty senior forward Andrew Vixon plays much taller than his long 6-3 frame. / Photo: Mike Bouffard

The highlight of the night, however, was a windmill dunk in the fourth quarter that he had missed earlier in the game. When he got it right, the gym erupted. 

It surely pleased NBA Hall of Fame guard and now College of Alameda coach Gary Payton, who was in attendance and actively recruiting Vixon, who averages 15 points and nine rebounds per game.  

“There’s a lot of interest in him,” Heinz said. “Four-year schools also.” 

Heinz said it seems Vixon gets four or five dunks a night, which may be problematic considering how violent the slams are. “Yeah, my hands hurt a little bit,” he said after the game. 

Quiet and soft spoken, Andrew Vixon plays very loud on the court with his actions. / Photo: Joey Ace

More impressive to Heinz is Vixon’s work on the defensive end. He forced multiple turnovers, turning them into easy buckets. He also challenged shots in the paint and pressed high up court to cut off passing lanes. 

“My athleticism plays a lot into [my defense],” he said. “I’m very physical, and a lot of people don’t like that physicality.” 

He learned from watching older brother Dera, who is now playing at Westcliff University. 

“When I saw my brother play, he was really good in high school, and now he’s playing at the college level,” Vixon said. “I wanted to be just like him.” 

Miller the maestro

And the younger Lions want to play like him and the two other seniors. Reed, Alex Zenn Dash and Vixon are all co-captains. 

“It’s great to be a role model to these younger guys,” Vixon said. 

Reed and Zenn Dash had great games in their own right, the former having a varsity career-high 23 points, finding his way to the basket time after time. Zenn Dash, on the other hand, was lights out from the corners, knocking down two back-to-back in the fourth quarter. 

The glue of the squad and most talented all-around player is 5-10 sophomore Jaiden Miller, who averages a team-best 17 points per game but also orchestrates the offense. 

Liberty sophomore Jaiden Miller averages better than 17 points per game and is considered a lights out shooter and playmaker. / Photo: Mike Bouffard

He had just four points against Deer Valley, choosing to feed his seniors, to go along with upward of double-digit assists and steals. It seemed like he was three steps ahead of every play on both sides of the ball. 

“”He’s really dynamic,” Heinz said. “He’s one of the better shooters around and has a natural feel for the game.” 

On the game’s first possession, Miller jumped a pass, made the steal and threw a lob to Vixon for a hoop. The two connected constantly.

“We’ve played together since we were in elementary school,” Miller said of he and Vixon. “Our chemistry is off the charts. He knows what I like to do, and I know what he likes to do.” 

Simply, Miller knows the game inside and out. 

“In the pick’n’roll, if they come too high, split it, or misdirection crossover to get downhill and find the shot or an open pass,” Miller said. 

Heinz says he knew they had something special in Miller when, as a freshman, made a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to post a 63-62 win over Utah power Bingham. 

“He’s special,” Heinz said. 

Even in a blowout win, Miller is vocal. He directed traffic on both ends which doesn’t come easy to most sophomores. But experience matters more than age, Miller said. 

“Not everyone's used to playing with the older kids,” he said. “I’ve been playing up since fourth grade. I can help everybody, even if they’re older than me. It feels like I have a big advantage playing as much as I have.” 

His uncle ran an AAU team that allowed him to watch the game at different levels, he said, which may explain his superb playmaking skills.

Bust city

He and Vixon agree emphatically that the Lions are ready for the next step. 

It helps to have even more talented weapons like Reed — “our ultimate glue guy who has a chance to also play college football as well,” Heinz said — all-league 5-10 sophomore guard Dante Vigil, who averages 11 points per game and had 20 points in an opening win over Vanden, and 6-2 sophomore Brendan Beresford. 

Liberty high school senior Mekhi Reed is a two-sport star who might play basketball and football in college. / Photo: Mike Bouffard

“We go 11 deep,” Heinz said. “We like to pressure all over the court.” 

Heinz wants to go to the Open Division if even the last of six seeds because “We want to go test ourselves against the best of the best,” he said. “It’s a young squad. We want these guys battle tested going against the highest competition going into next year.” 

An Open spot also guarantees the Lions two NCS playoff games and an automatic berth into the Northern California regional. 

“We’re ready to prove to everyone that even though our schedule doesn’t look that good, we’ll come out and bust everybody,” Miller said. 

Heinz wasn’t willing to go that far, but after winning 49 of their last 55 games, he likes what he sees. 

“We’re going to need to get our game tight because we’re not going to see teams like this in the playoffs,” he said. “Especially if we make it to the Open.”