Topher Casserly was not Topher Casserly, but Chris Richardson was much more than anybody expected him to be last night.
Richardson put on a sometimes electrifying performance in the second half for Francis Scott Key, leading the Eagles to a come-from-behind, 68-57 victory over a surprising Liberty boys basketball team at Liberty.
Richardson turned around the game for Key (3-0) when he started the second half after playing only briefly in the first half that ended with Liberty leading 31-24.
Richardson worked the backboards, hustled all over the floor on defense, ran relentlessly on offense and scored 10 points in the second half (11 in the game) to bail the Eagles out of trouble against the determined Lions.
"We needed to pick up defensively in the second half and Chris Richardson helped us do that plus all the other things he did," said Key coach Jeff Cook. "Topher [Key's scoring leader] wasn't hitting from the outside and we weren't getting the ball inside like we were supposed to. Almost everybody had an off game."
Richardson, a 6-foot-2 senior, not included.
With Richardson on the floor, Key cut the Liberty (0-2) lead to 43-41 at the end of the third quarter and surged ahead 54-47 with 3:11 left in the game.
That lead was gained on the play of the game for Key, with Richardson scoring the basket inside off a beautiful lob pass from Steve Wright from near mid-court.
Wright took one step across half-court and spotted Richardson breaking for the basket and hit him in full stride. Richardson went high in the air to catch the ball, pump-faked a Liberty defender out of the way and then dropped the ball in the basket.
Richardson had scored six points in the third quarter when Casserly was shut out.
Liberty's two football standouts -- split end Tyrone Ellis and quarterback Ryan Pagels -- seemed to be all over the floor on defense and helped take the Eagles out of their game plan.
"We're supposed to look inside first and then swing it back outside," said Cook. "But most of the time we were shooting from the outside even before looking inside."
Ellis used his quickness to shut down Casserly at times, and the Liberty junior also scored 10 points. He was one of four Liberty players in double figures.
Jeff Janysk led Liberty with 16 points, Darryl Knight scored 13 for and Jeff Lee had 10. Knight hit three three-pointers.