28th Annual
North Central District "A"
Girls Basketball Tournament
2003

Champ

ionship

Februa

ry 22

Tona

sket

Score

: 44-37

Liberty

 Bell

Score

: 63-59

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Brewster 72, Oroville 48
Game 1.
At Okanogan, WA

The Bears spread out their scoring, with Jeni Boesel, Rachel Crane and Kaylan Crane combining for 49 points. Rachel Crane's 16 was one off her season high.
Also, Ashleigh Gamble scored eight points, knocking down a quartet of 10-footers.
"We played exactly how we wanted to play," coach Bryan Boesel said. "This was a great team effort, the way we should be playing."
Shalene Jensen led Oroville with 17 points. Erica Day and Daniele Moser each scored 10.

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Tonasket 56, Liberty Bell 44
Game 2.
At Okanogan, WA

After being victimized by Sheena Hinkle in the first half (18 of her 24 points), the Tiger defense came alive in the second half, as did the offense in the fourth quarter.
Tonasket outscored the Lions 20-6 over the final eight minutes, with a great run of 12 points from Krissy Call.
"They were hurt-the-defense type points," Tiger coach Gary Smith said.
Meg Smith had a big night with 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Jessica Clarkson led Tonasket with 15 points, hitting a trio of treys and also going 6 of 6 from the line in the fourth quarter.
Katie McCurry had another strong game for Liberty Bell with 13 points and getting Tonasket's Shayne Freeman into early foul trouble.

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Liberty Bell 63, Oroville 59
Game 3. (Winner to regional, loser out)
At Okanogan, WA

Everything seemed to go right for the Hornets in the opening minutes, but the Lions made plenty of big plays in the fourth quarter to continue their season.
Oroville jumped ahead 8-0 with a variety of shots, including Larkin McFadden's trey. It would be the first of four the senior would hit in the game.
"We call her ‘Downtown,' she has that kind of range," Hornet coach Greg Moser said. "Early on, we had our offense working."
Meanwhile, Liberty Bell's leading scorer, Sheena Hinkle, was in foul trouble and sitting on the bench. Only senior Regan Walsh was hitting shots, scoring eight points in the first quarter.
"Those first few minutes seemed to last forever," Hinkle said. "We really had trouble running our offense. Oroville has played us so often, I think they know our offense better than some of our sophomores do."
But not as well as Lion guard Katie McCurry. The sophomore scored 25 points, after a scoreless first quarter. Between jumpers from the foul line and 11 free throws she kept making big plays.
"In terms of freezing the player guarding her and then getting a shot off, Katie is the best I've ever coached," Liberty Bell coach Mike Bourn said.
McCurry had 12 points going into the fourth quarter, while Hinkle added 11. Still, the Lions trailed 44-39 as Shalene Jensen had 11 points despite an injured finger and Erica Day clicked for six points in the third quarter.
The Hornets added to the drama with a 6-1 run. Liberty Bell's press immediately paid off.
"I had to try it, I had no choice," Bourn said. "It didn't work at all the first time we played them (a 58-41 loss)."
This time Hinkle made sure it worked, turning a pair of quick steals into baskets. The press was helped by the absence of Hornet point guard Daniele Moser, sidelined with four fouls.
"I had to sit her and I guess I left her in a little too long," the Oroville coach said.
Moser came back in after Hinkle's steals, but Liberty Bell had the momentum, but not quite the lead. The Lions went ahead when McCurry drained a jumper and Hinkle fired in a trey. McCurry then closed out the game by hitting seven free throws.
"I was missing some, but my teammates kept supporting me," McCurry said.
For Bourn, an Oroville grad, the victory was a relief.
"This is the best Oroville team I've seen," Bourn said. "They have so many weapons. If they could go into regional as the fourth team, they'd give a lot of teams problems."

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Tonasket 44, Brewster 37
Game 4. (Championship, both to regional)
At Okanogan, WA

Leading for 29 minutes didn't give the Bears their third consecutive district title.
Instead, the Tigers completed a stunning comeback in the fourth quarter. Tonasket took the lead with 2:32 left and made every necessary big play for the victory.
It is the Tigers' second victory against Brewster in two weeks. Tonasket won 50-47 on Feb. 7 after the Bears won the first league meeting 50-49 last month.
"Actually, losing that first game by a point gave us confidence," senior guard Meg Smith said. "We have complete belief in our system and our teammates."
As in lots of confidence. The Tigers trailed by double digits several times, including 35-25 with six minutes left. Brewster even jumped out to a quick start in the fourth when Kaylan Crane turned a rebound into a full-court drive, layup, foul and free throw. Three possessions later, Rachel Crane escaped for a baseline layup.
Those would be Brewster's only points of the final quarter.
"We didn't execute our offense like we should have in the fourth quarter," Bear coach Bryan Boesel said. "When we did execute, we missed our shots."
Tonasket wasn't missing after being cold for three quarters, managing just 25 points going into the fourth quarter. The eventual champions average 57 points a game.
"This is a veteran team and they've played in big games before," Tiger coach Gary Smith said. "What I had to do was find a scheme that worked. I think I tried every set and play we had by the end of the game."
The 19-5 fourth quarter comeback involved every starter scoring in numerous ways. It was reminiscent of Brewster's big rallies at the 1999 State 1A tourney when these seniors won the title as freshmen.
Shayne Freeman started Tonasket's rally with an inside shot while being fouled and converting the free throw. Jessica Clarkson followed with a 3-pointer, the start of a nine-point quarter for the senior point guard.
"We can count on Jessica making at least one big shot every game," the Tiger coach said.
The biggest shot came with 70 seconds left and Tonasket up 40-37. Clarkson drove down the lane and put up a running scooper for what would be an insurmountable lead.
"That's my shot. I was trying it once a game but coach got after me," Clarkson said. "It worked this time."
The senior followed with a big defensive play, planting herself in the lane to draw a charge from Kaylan Crane with 50 seconds left. After that, Tonasket made free throws and Brewster missed treys.
"What our defense did well at the end was force them to take time off the clock looking for a 3-pointer," Smith said.
Early on, it was Tonasket looking for any kind of shot. The Tigers made just two field goals in the first quarter and only six in the first half.
Brewster wasn't sizzling either, but hitting in spurts. Senior Jeni Boesel, a three-time all-state player opened with eight points in the first quarter, half on free throws.
"I was hoping I'd be out of the shooting slump I've been in," said Boesel, averaging 29.0 a game, including 19 against Oroville in the district semifinal. "I've been missing shots, but thought maybe I'd be hitting them tonight, especially after the first quarter."
She would finish with 15 points, none in the last nine minutes of the game. Her last field goal was a trey to put the Bears back up by five.