1st Annual
North Central District "A"
Boys Basketball Tournament
1958

Champ

ionship

Febr

uary 28

Om
#1 seed 

ak
to state

Score

: 41-31

Qui
(12

ncy
-9)

Score

: 46-40

Gam
Loser

e 7.
 out

Okan
(18

ogan
-3)

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Othello 52, Chelan 49
Game 1. Loser out
At Ephrata, WA

Othello ousted Chelan from the tourney and with a last-minute win and Omak bounced Cashmere in opening round action here Wednesday.
With 22 seconds to play, Othello's bruising Larry McCourtie swiped the ball at mid-court and boomed-in for win-clinching lay-in.  McCourtie's bucket, which gave the Huskies a 50-49 lead, was followed by a couple of Chelan fouls in the last six seconds, to enable the Huskies to increase their lead as Gene Worsham sank two of his four shots.
Earlier, the Goats had roared back from a 39-35 third quarter-ending deficit to wrest the lead from the Huskies with 2:03 to play in the game.  Tim Heyen's third basket of the quarter gave the Goats the upper-hand at 49-46 with 1:14 to play. Thereafter, though, Othello dominated play.
Worsham toed the free throw line for a total of six shots in the last minute to capitalize for four points. McCourtie's game-deciding basket was the only field goal in the final minute.
Although missing numerous good shots in the first eight minutes of play, Chelan led at the buzzer, 10-7.  Then the Huskies took command of the situation late in the second quarter by dominating board play.
This Othello splurge netted five straight buckets, including two apiece by Larry Shaw and Jim Coffland, overcame a 21-16 Chelan lead and sent the Huskies out in front 26-22 at halftime.
The Huskies maintained a slim lead through the second half action until the shooting of Paul Reed and Heyen finally caught them with two minutes to go.
Reed's 18 points and Heyen's 14 points paced all scorers. McCourtie was high for Othello with 13.

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Omak 51, Cashmere 39
Game 2. Loser out
At Ephrata, WA

In the nightcap, Omak used its height and a superb shooting percentage to build a big early cushion, then went cold in the last half of and had to battle off a stubborn Cashmere team before advancing to the semis.
With Omak rebounders Claude Gove, Rich Demarest and Ron Huber taking charge in the opening minutes, Cashmere was limited to only one shot in each of its offensive thrusts.
The Pioneers quickly constructed an 11-1 lead, only to have Cashmere surge back to narrow the margin to 14-9 by buzzer time.
Not until six and-a-half minutes of the game had elapsed did Cashmere get its first field goal of the night.
The Pioneers continued to hit at a good percentage, while limiting the Bulldogs to four first-half field goals, to boast of a 27-17 bulge at intermission.
With Ron Harnden entering the game to pump new life into the Bulldogs with his rebounding efforts.  Cashmere increased its shooting tempo in the second quarter but failed on a number of fine lay-ins.
Omak quickly moved away to a 14-point lead in the third quarter and was on top, 39-33, at the close of the period, with the rangy Demarest leading the way.
But reserves Harnden and Gary Dugwyler re-kindled the Cashmere fire to lead the Bulldogs to a threatening deficit of  43-36 midway through the last period.
The Bulldogs, though, could net only one more field goal in the remaining time.
Merle Cox and Huber, with their long-range marksmanship, led the Pioneer scorers, Gove, Demarest and Ted Harrison all had nine apiece for Omak.
The Bulldogs connected for only 13-of-61 shots.

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Okanogan 53, Othello 48
Game 3. Loser out
At Ephrata, WA

Okanogan's Bulldogs, stale from a two-week layoff, had an awful time catching Othello. Then, after grabbing the lead in the third period, never were safely ahead of the nipping Huskies.
Lanky Tom Payne provided the steadying influence needed for Okanogan to come from behind  and defeat Othello.
With Larry McCourtie and the rest of his Othello mates doing the better job rebounding, the Huskies marched off to an early lead over Okanogan. They were on top, 12-11, at the first quarter mark and 25-20 at halftime.
Okanogan came out for the second half with more relaxation and far better timing in their rebounding.  Bert Swallom, Payne, and Don Tarbert popped quick field goals that moved Okanogan to a 27-27 tie.
Then Payne, who seemed to be doing the critical jobs for Okanogan through the evening, hit an arching shot from the side and Okanogan went into the lead for good.
Dale Easley was working loose for his turn-around shots and Tarbert was playing a smooth floor game as the Bulldogs raced away to a 37-31 lead at the end of the third period.
Othello surged to within three points at one point in the fourth period, but Okanogan by then had found its poise and was not in serious trouble.  Easley poured in 21 points to take game scoring honors.  Othello's smooth Gene Worsham dropped in 15 to lead his team.

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Omak 51, Quincy 45
Game 4.
At Ephrata, WA

Omak shook up the tournament with a beautiful team performance that upset the Jackrabbits in an exciting finale Thursday night.
At the outset of the Quincy-Omak clash many fans wondered how much of a margin Quincy would pile up. Passing beautifully and with the two fine guards Jim Spence and Bill Elliott hitting from outside and Larry Focht hitting inside inside, the Jackrabbits rolled out to a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.  Work of Omak's two guards, Ted Harrison and Merle Cox is all that made it that close.
Then in the second quarter the Pioneers put up a hard-working defense that throttled attempts of the Jacks to get inside.  Ron Huber, Rich Demarest and Claude Gove began sweeping rebounds (a habit they were to exercise the rest of the night).
When Demarest dropped a free throw, the Pioneers went out in front 20-19.  Huber, showing great accuracy from the key area, potted three field goals then, that helped Omak move out to a 28-23 halftime lead.
Quincy came roaring back in the third period on the strength by Spence.  They closed it to a 29-29 tie and, when Cox drew his fourth foul and headed for a respite on the bench, it looked like the Jacks might go.
But reserve guard Ken Garvais came in for the Pioneers then.  He made a driving lay-in, flipped a beautiful assist pass and sparked Omak to another rally that had them out in front, 38-33, at the three quarter mark.
Quincy came battling back in the fourth quarter, but could never loosen the Omak defense.  Shooting hurriedly and from outside, the Jacks saw numerous efforts rim the hoop and bound out.
Spence and Huber tied for scoring laurels with 20.

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Quincy 46, Othello 40
Game 5. (Loser out)
At Ephrata, WA

Always-troublesome Othello boomed right into the lead over Quincy, which continued having its Thursday night shooting troubles. By halftime the Huskies were on top, 20-15.
But the Jackrabbits, jumping for a trip to the state tournament cut loose with the artillery in the third period. Larry Focht opened things with a long leaping pivot shot. Then he dropped a free-throw. Doyle Nelson scored and suddenly the score was tied.
For awhile Gene Worsham and his Othello mates stayed with them.  But Quincy was hot, stealing passes, forcing Othello errors.  When that third period ended, the Jackrabbits were on top 32-26 and their fans were whooping.
Othello closed the gap with a brief furry. But the Jacks needed steadying guard Bill Elliott was there with the prescription.
After Elliott fouled out in the final three minutes, the determined Huskies rose up to within three points of the Jacks. Free throws by Focht and Jim Spence then iced things for Quincy.
Spence dropped in 13 points to lead all scorers. His teammate Gene Ward got 12.

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Omak 41, Okanogan 31
Game 6. (Championship, winner to state)
At Ephrata, WA

Unruffled by the odds, Omak coach Gene Hoon's hard-working Pioneers clinched the 1958 North Central District A basketball title Friday night over rival Okanogan, 41-31.
At the outset of the tourney, most observers figured Okanogan and Quincy would battle it out for the title.  Now those two teams, both victimized by Omak, square off tonight to see which gets the second ticket to the state tournament.
Twice this season Okanogan had got to victory over Omak.
But Friday night, when the chips were down, Omak rewrote the script.
The Pioneers dominated the ball game throughout; as Okanogan suffered through a miserable evening of cold shooting, helped not at all by Omak's aggressive defense.
For awhile, in the first period, it was a tight battle. With Omak's Merle Cox potting long ones, matched by Okanogan's Bert Swallom and Greg Fragner, the lead changed hands four times. Omak bobbed up on top, 7-6, at the buzzer. That was the last Okanogan saw of the lead.
Pioneer Ron Huber wrapped up Okanogan pivot man Dale Easley in a tough defense.  Huber, Rich Demarest, and Claude Gove began gobbling up rebounds with a great hunger.
With a little less than three minutes to go in the half, Easley got loose for a field goal. It was Okanogan's only chance to holler in the second period.  It was their only basket. At halftime, Omak was on top 17-8.
The third period produced an even struggle. Occasionally, Easley would get loose for a close-in shot, but otherwise Omak defenders were breaking up passes and forcing inaccurate Okanogan shots.
The Pioneers in that period were content to keep their lead by dropping 9-of-10 free-throws.  The final stanza opened with Omak leading, 32-23.
Omak didn't hit a field goal in the fourth period, but they hit nine more free-throws, defensed well and fattened their lead. With a little less than four minutes left, Okanogan closed the gap to 36-31, but that was as close to the title as they were destined to get.
Easley topped all scorers with 15 points.  Ted Harrison and Demarest led the Omak team scoring with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

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Okanogan 52, Quincy 34
Game 7. (winner to state, loser out)
At Ephrata, WA

Okanogan rolled impressively into the State A boys basketball tournament by trouncing Quincy, 52-34, in the battle for the second-place honors among the district's Class A schools here Saturday night.
With the victory, Okanogan coach Les Perfect's Bulldogs will join neighboring Omak for the opening-round of the State A action at Tacoma Wednesday.  This marks the Bulldogs' second trip in two years to Tacoma.
Even without Don Tarbert in the lineup, the Bulldogs had little trouble with North Central League champion Quincy. Tarbert, injured an ankle in the championship clash with Omak, but will make the trip to Tacoma.
Towering Dale Easley and Tom Payne took immediate control of the backboards and all the Bulldogs started throwing in the points at a rapid clip.
Meanwhile, the Jackrabbits, coached by Bob Woodworth, limited to only one shot with Payne and Easley there to grab the rebound, made an unsuccessful attempt to break-up the Bulldogs' 1-2-2 zone.  Jim Spence connected on his first shot from outside to make it a 2-2 ball game, but thereafter the cold shooting Jackrabbits were never in contention.  To add to their frustration, the Jacks had several shots thoroughly checked by Okanogan's alert defenders.  
Burt Swallom twice drove the baseline for buckets.  Easley added two more from inside. Mark Thompson tossed in a pair from outside and Greg Fragner also hit from the back court to make it 14-2 in the opening four minutes. 
By period's end, it was 17-4 in favor of Okanogan.
The Jacks worked the ball inside on several occasions to step up their scoring pace, but the Bulldogs maintained their advantage to lead at halftime, 27-13.
Payne chipped in with three buckets in the third stanza to lead Okanogan in a 41-17 bulge. Quincy was limited to a single field goal in the third period.
When Easley and Payne departed and Okanogan reserves took over with four minutes to play, Bulldogs lacked only a field goal of having a 30-point lead.  The Jacks closed the gap to within 11 points in the last three and a half minutes.  For the quarter, Quincy equaled their entire point production of 17, of the first three quarters.
Easley topped all scorers with 23 points, while Gene Ward led Quincy with 12.