9th Annual
North Central District "A"
Boys Basketball Tournament
1966

Champ

ionship

Qui

ncy

Score

: 60-57

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Othello 64, Oroville 53
(Wild Card playoff)
At Eastmont High School

Othello wins district berth

The Othello Huskies just seemed to be in right place at the right time Wednesday night.
They picked up almost every loose ball, had excellent rebound positioning and otherwise turned in a scrappy performance to beat defending North Central District champion Oroville in an inter-league playoff game at Eastmont High.
The win sends coach Eric Roberts' Huskies into the district tournament schedule Friday and Saturday at Eastmont High School, and eliminated Oroville from further contention.
Othello combined its scrappiness and maturity with a zone defense and Ron Brandt's hot hand in the second half to overtake the Hornets.
The 6-foot-1 Brandt didn't score in the first ten minutes of play, but he pumped in 11 field goals, mostly from 15 to 20 feet out, and seven free throws in the last 22 minutes to total 29 points for the night.

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Tonasket 53, Othello 44
Game 1. (Loser out)
At Eastmont High School

"I just hope we saved a good ball game for tomorrow night," said Tonasket coach Martin Anzelini after his Tigers had subdued Othello's fighting Huskies. He wasn't at all satisfied with the way his Tigers ran their offense, even though they were in command for the last three quarters.
The Tigers broke a 10-10 tie at the end of the outset of the second quarter and led the rest of the way. They carried a 15-point lead into the second half, then saw that shrink to six on two occasions in the fourth quarter.
Tight at the outset, the Tigers failed to score a field goal in the first four minutes and didn't get untracked until the second quarter.  Then they began to roll.  The rebounding of Rodney Pickering and the scoring of Dale Duchow and Lee Rampley carried the Tigers to a 32-17 halftime lead.
With their three big men in trouble on fouls, the Tigers had to fight to protect that lead through the second half. Stan Peterson led an Othello comeback that brought the Huskies within six points, 41-35, with 6:40 to play. That's as close as they came to overtaking the Tigers, even though Tonasket lost Rampley and Pickering on fouls.
Although the Huskies more than held their own on the boards in the second half, the Tigers out-shot the Huskies, 18-to-13, but were called for more fouls, 23-21.
Anzelini's club shot 50 percent during the take-charge second quarter, but made only 18-of-61 shots for the game. Othello sank only 13-of-55 attempts.
Othello's Peterson led the scoring with 16 points. Rampley, with 13 points, and Duchow, with 12, led Tonasket.
Ron Brandt, who made 29 in a playoff game two nights earlier, failed to make a point until 15 seconds remained in the first half and he finished with 10.  Ken Michels had the task of checking the Othello ace.

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Quincy 60, Chelan 57
Game 2. (Championship, winner to state)
At Eastmont High School

Quincy overcomes hot Chelan

The Quincy Jackrabbits survived some spectacular shooting by Chelan to win the North Central District basketball championship Friday night.
A capacity crowd jammed its way into the Eastmont gymnasium to see Bob Woodworth's Jackrabbits take a 60-57 decision from the Goats and win a berth in the State Class A tournament.
Chelan gets a crack at the district's number two spot in the state tourney when it meets Tonasket on the Okanogan floor tonight. That second-place battle is scheduled for 7:30pm.  By prior arrangement that game was shifted to the northern court because both teams involved are from the Caribou Trail League.
Chelan coach Jim Talley is probably wondering how his Goats could possibly have lost that championship struggle. The Goats shot a sizzling 45 percent by making 26-of-58 shots and out-field-goaled the Jackrabbits, 26-21. In the second half alone, the Goats shot a fantastic 59 percent with 17 field goals in 29 attempts, but they went on to the free throw line only once during the last 16 minutes and not at all in the fourth quarter.
Quincy, meantime, came up with the scoring power when it needed it most and otherwise got strong rebounding from its slender inside trio of Pete Romano, Bob Kiltie, and Eddie Field.
The Jackrabbits, playing fine basketball and keeping their mistakes at a minimum, held the lead for all but about two-and-a-half minutes of the game.
They spotted the Goats the first basket of the game, then grabbed the lead and held onto it late in the third quarter, relinquished it momentarily, then went ahead to stay, 44-43, on Romano's bucket with 6:33 to play.
Six straight points by Romano enabled the Jacks to open an eight-point lead, 17-9, early in the second quarter. Then Steve Kline led a Chelan comeback that pulled the Goats to within two points on three occasions.
Kline connected for four straight buckets from outside during one stretch of the second quarter and otherwise accounted for 17 of Chelan's last 19 of the first half.  That sensational shooting display closed the halftime count to 27-23.
Romano opened the second half with two quick buckets to give Quincy a lead it protected until the last minute of the third quarter.  Little Ron Kennedy then bombed the nets for three straight howitzers in the last 52 seconds of the third period to send Chelan to the fore, 41-38.
It appeared the Goats were in command as fourth-quarter action unfolded, but Quincy reacted quickly. Romano made a pair of field goals and Field added another to put the Jacks in front, 46-43.
In spite of two more baskets by Kennedy and three in a row by Roger Moser from long range, the Jacks maintained a three-to-six point lead during the final five minutes.  The Goats cut it to two with 15 seconds to play on Kline's 12th and final basket of the night.
Kline put on a great shooting exhibition in collecting 27 points.  Quincy's tall-threesome of Romano, Field and Kilte took turn scoring to rack up 19, 15 and 13 points, respectively. Romano turned in a strong job around the boards as Quincy out-rebounded the Goats, 39-31.
Quincy took 63 shots to make its 21 field goals, for 33 percent accuracy.

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Tonasket 64, Chelan 54
Game 3. (winner to state, loser out)
At Okanogan High School

Tonasket Tigers finally break through!

Four years of frustration for coach Martin Anzelini and his Tonasket Tigers ended here Saturday when the blue-and-gold clad warriors from Northern Okanogan County upset the Chelan Goats to take second place in the North Central District basketball tournament and capture a berth in the state berth.
Tonasket's appearance in the state tourney will be its first since 1952. The Tigers have in district play for five straight years and have come close, only to lose out, on a couple of occasions.
In beating Caribou Trail League champion Chelan Saturday, the Tigers overcame a team that had whipped them twice during the regular season. Tonasket finished in second place two games behind Chelan in the league race.
Tonasket made the most of its shooting opportunities Saturday night.  The Tigers shot only 44 times, but made 21 field goals for a dazzling 47.7 percent.
The Goats sank 20-of-62 attempts. Steve Kline, closing out his high school career in brilliant fashion, accounted for 12 of Chelan's field goals while totaling 30 points.
Tonasket broke a 14-all first quarter tie and led the rest of the way, at times by as much as 12 points. The Tigers scored 19 points in the second quarter to build a 33-24 halftime margin.
They expanded their advantage to 49-37 by the close of the third period.  Chelan came back to within seven points, 48-41, once in the fourth quarter.
Tonasket scoring was evenly distributed among its five starters. The Tigers' double-figure scorers were Lee Rampley, Ken Krell, Dale Duchow, Ken Michels and Rodney Pickering. Rampley scored 14 of his 16 point total in the first half and had a perfect 8-for-8 night at the free throw line.
Michels and Pickering turned in solid performances for the Tigers.