12th Annual
North Central District "A"
Boys Basketball Tournament
1969

Champ

ionship

Tona

sket

Score

: 64-60 (OT)

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Omak 46, Chelan 43
Game 1. (Loser out)
At Okanogan, WA

Pioneers oust Chelan

The Omak Pioneers kept their state tournament hopes alive by upsetting Chelan in North Central District "A" basketball action here Friday night.
Del Smith's Pioneers now move into Saturday night's second-place battle with the Connell Eagles at Chelan. The winner will qualify for the state tournament, opening Wednesday in Tacoma.  Saturday's game gets underway at 7:30pm.
Both teams had their problems on Friday night's tussle. Turnovers were numerous and the shooting was below par. Both hit 17 field goals, but Chelan connected on only nine of 25 free throw attempts and Omak made 12 of 22.
The Goats moved out to an early lead and posted a 14-9 advantage at the close of the first quarter. Bill Cottrell pulled Omak into a tie midway through the second quarter and then gave the Pioneers the lead. Omak posted a 22-20 edge at halftime and a 30-26 lead at the three-quarter mark.
The Pioneers led by as much as nine points in the fourth quarter before the Goats began to creep up. Steve Sackenreuter's field goal just before the final buzzer put the Goats within three points.
Cottrell scored eight points to spark Omak's second-quarter rally and totaled 17 points for the game before departing with five fouls.
Sackenreuter led the Goats with 17. Terry Richards contributed 11 to the Chelan attack and Bruce Bessler turned in some strong board work before fouling out.

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Tonasket 64, Connell 60 (OT)
Game 2. (Championship, winner to state)
At Chelan, WA

Tigers capture title in OT

Tonasket's small, scrappy Tigers battled their way into the State Class A basketball tournament by edging the Connell Eagles in the District championship struggle here Friday night.
After muffing a couple of opportunities to wrap up the win in the last 36 seconds of regulation play, Ed Pariseau's Tigers came from behind in overtime to capture the title.
Connell twice took the lead in overtime and Joe Pitt twice pulled the Tigers into a tie. Then with 47 seconds to go left-handed John Sylvester pumped in a 15-foot shot from the side to give Tonasket the lead, 59-57.
Pitt promptly stole the ball and put up a hurried shot that was unsuccessful. Connell rebounded, but failed to capitalize on this opportunity. Little Wayne Sutton grabbed the rebound on a missed Connell free throw, setting the stage on a win-clutching shot by Pitt from the top of the key with 31 seconds remaining.
Connell's driving demon Dave Anderson closed it to one point, 61-60, at the 20-second mark, but Tonasket protected its lead by making free throws in the final ten seconds.
The teams engaged in a furious shooting match in the first quarter, which ended with Tonasket on top, 17-14. Pitt connected four times from long range and Connell's Anderson equaled that field goal output with two driving lay-ins and two baseline shots in the first quarter.
Tonasket began to get the upper-hand early in the second quarter on two quick buckets by Dennis Stansbury.
The Tigers twice led by 10 points on the shooting of Pitt and Mike Stansbury late in the second quarter.
The Eagles toughened up their rebounding as the second half unfolded and the Tigers hit long cold spell against Connell's 2-1-2 zone defense. Tonasket's scoring famine, coupled with strong, rebounding by Connell's Merle Booker, enabled the Eagles to forge ahead 41-38.
While Tonasket was making only 3-of-20 shots in the third quarter, Connell was posting a 44-43 quarter-ending lead.
Tonasket boasted a four-point, 53-49 lead with 2:10 to play. Twenty-seven seconds later, Connell tied the score on a shot from the corner by Kent Pruett.
A three-second violation against Connell and a charging foul by Anderson gave the Tigers possession in the last 36 seconds but on each occasion Tonasket missed the shot that might have won it in regulation.
Although the Eagles boast a big front line measuring 6-3, 6-3 and 6-4, the Tigers held their own on the boards, equaling Connell's rebound production, 44-44.
The Tigers hit 15-of-30 shots in the first half and wound up with 26-field goals in 74 attempts. Connell made 25-of-68.

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Omak 64, Connell 55
Game 3. (winner to state, loser out)
At Chelan, WA

Omak grabs state berth

Omak's late season momentum has carried the youthful Pioneers into the State Class A basketball tournament.
The Pioneers earned the number two spot from the North Central District tournament by topping Connell here Saturday night.
Del Smith's club will join district champion Tonasket in the Tacoma tourney at the University of Puget Sound Fieldhouse.
The Pioneers reached the tournament the hard way. Not until the final game of the regular season did the Pioneers clinch third place in the Caribou Trail League.  Then they met Othello in a playoff and won a sudden-death encounter with Chelan in the opening round of the tournament Friday.
The sharp outside shooting of sophomore guard Kelly Stevens against the Connell zone was a big factor in the Pioneers' sixth straight win Saturday night.
Stevens pumped in eight field goals, all from outside, to account for his 16 points. John Austin, another sophomore, hit five-of-six free throws in the late action and equaled Stevens' scoring total.
The two big juniors, Bill Cottrell and Austin Klahn, also made major offensive contributions with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The game was tight most of the way.  Omak forged ahead, 53-51, with three minutes left and then widened the margin to four points.  The Pioneers wrapped up the win by sinking nine out of 10 free throws in the remaining time.
Connell's outstanding guard, Dave Anderson, led all scorers with 24 points.