16th Annual
North Central District "A"
Boys Basketball Tournament
1973

Omak
(20-1)

Score: 57-43
#1 seed to state

Chelan
(11-13)

Score: 71-58

Game 7.
Loser 3rd

Lake Roosevelt
(16-5)

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Lake Roosevelt 61, Chelan 58
Game 1.
At  Chelan, WA

Lake Roosevelt and Chelan battled on nearly even terms from start to finish in a sloppily played, but stirring struggle. The game was extremely physical most of the time and Chelan coach Jim Talley said his team got the short end of the officiating.
"They (meaning of officials) protected Lonnie Warnecke all night underneath," said Talley. "Every questionable call went their (Lake Roosevelt's) way."
The Goats were called for 18 fouls to the Raiders' 12. In the second half, however, just four personal fouls were called on the Raiders, while Chelan totaled nine infractions.
Free throw shooting did turn the game the Raiders' way as they made 15-of-25 at the line to Chelan's eight-of-12.
Another "key" to the Raider win was the hustling floor play of Kenny Renteria and Bob Morin. Their double-teaming tactics paid off in several key buckets and had as much to do with the Goats' down fall as anything.
"Renteria has more heart than two guys," said Raiders coach Jerry Riggan. "He really picked us up. He changed the pattern of the game and gave us the momentum we needed."
Morin and Renteria combined for 20 points but it wasn't just those points that hurt the Goats. They came up with several steals which led to easy cripples for the Raiders.
"We hurt ourselves several times by letting them get those cripples," said Talley.
It was Morin and Renteria who turned the tide with the score knotted at 38-all late in the third quarter. Their ball hawking out front sent the Raiders soaring in front, 51-42.
Chelan didn't fold however - thanks to Steve Stamps. Stamps came through with eight points in the fourth quarter as the Goats rallied to within a point, 57-56, with 58 seconds to play.
Morin and Warnecke scored the next three points at the foul line to seal the win against a gambling Chelan defense.
Warnecke scored 22 points to lead all scorers but felt that he should "have played much better tonight."
"We can't play much worse than we did tonight but the bench saved us," he said. "I felt we should have broken the game open several times but Chelan kept coming back. We kept our poise though."
Talley felt his team "deserved the win. We played a good game."
The Goats hit 48 percent of their shots (25-52) and outscored Lake Roosevelt from the field. The Raiders canned 23-of-56 tries.
Brad Bowers scored 18 for the Goats.
Chelan also out-rebounded the winners, 35-to-25, but the Raiders (margin at the foul line spelled the difference... along with that hustling, scrappy pair of Raider, Renteria and Morin.

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Tonasket 52, Cashmere 43
Game 2.
At Chelan, WA

With only one player on either team with previous tournament experience, Tonasket and Cashmere hooked up in a "battle of nerves." But when the game was over it wasn't a matter of who got over the jitters first that won the game.
Tonasket's half-court scrambling, pressure-defense broke the game open for the Tigers. Tonasket  took a mere 37-35 lead into the final period then outscored Cashmere, 11-2, and that was the game.
Shane Leggett accounted for five of those 11 points that triggered the victory.
"Leggett got us settled down," said Tonasket coach Gary Jorgenson. "He ran our offense expertly too."
The Tigers all had the jitters in the first half.
"We played afraid in the first half," Jorgenson said.
Tim Freeman concurred with his coach.
"I was so nervous at first I couldn't do much," Freeman said.
Tim got over his nervousness enough to score 11 points for Tonasket. It was another Freeman, Don, who played an equally significant role in the victory.
"Don annihilated Cashmere on the boards," Jorgenson said.
He pulled down 13 rebounds and scored 12 points to take scoring honors for the game.
The lone tournament veteran on the floor, Cashmere's Rick Cozzalio, scored the first four points of the game and tallied eight points in the first quarter to keep the Bulldogs close.
However, Cozzalio was shutout the rest of the way. No Cashmere player even reached double figures.
The Bulldogs relied on their defense to win the game but did have a fairly good shooting first half (10-of-23) and led, 25-23, at intermission.
They could make only eight goals in the second half (in 24 tries) and went scoreless from the floor for the first six minutes of the final period.
Naturally coach Ike Cummings was deeply disappointed in the Bulldogs' performance.
"We played very poorly," Cummings said. "We did so many things fundamentally wrong which you can't afford to do this late in the season."
Cummings commended Tonasket for being "ready to play."

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Chelan 43, Cashmere 36
Game 3. (Loser out)
At Chelan, WA

Chelan jumped out to a 16-4 first-quarter advantage against Cashmere and never surrendered the lead. The Bulldogs threatened that lead briefly early in the fourth quarter.
Coming from a 37-29 third quarter deficit, Cashmere closed the margin to 37-36. But Dan Sloan came through with a crucial basket and Steve Stamps sank two free throws to put Chelan back in control.
Brad Bowers, who was instrumental in putting Chelan in command at the game's outset, scored all of his 10 points in the first half. The game's high scorer was Cashmere sophomore Dean Johnson, who netted 11 points.
Chelan out-shot Cashmere, 17-15, from the field and made nine of 13 free throws, compared to the Bulldogs' six of 13.
Of Note: Chelan coach Jim Talley issued an apology to the Lake Roosevelt Raiders for comments he made, regarding the officiating, following the Goats' loss to the Raiders in North Central District tournament action Friday night.
Talley was so upset with the officiating in that game and expressed himself.
"I didn't mean anything derogatory towards the team (Lake Roosevelt)," he explained. "They have a fine ball club and Lake Roosevelt fans can be real proud of them."

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Lake Roosevelt 79, Tonasket 59
Game 4.
At Chelan, WA

Lake Roosevelt's Lonnie Warnecke put on a tremendous offensive exhibition here Saturday night to lead the Raiders over Tonasket and into the finals of the North Central District Class A basketball tournament.
The Raiders will now meet once-beaten Caribou Trail League champion Omak for the district title and one of North Central Washington's two berths in the State Class A meet.
After Tonasket had streaked to a 22-15 lead in the first quarter. Warnecke began to shake loose inside and lead Lake Roosevelt to a offensive surge. He scored 13 points in the second quarter as the Raiders were forging ahead, 36-35, and added 10 more points in the third quarter to help the Raiders build a 62-47 lead.
Warnecke totaled 30 points for the game.
Lake Roosevelt capitalized on lay-ins against the Tonasket press in the second half. The Raiders also began dominating the boards, allowing Tonasket just four rebounds in the second half. Doug Beggs, Bob Morin and Ken Renteria all made notable contributions to the Lake Roosevelt attack.
Spearheading Tonasket's early output was Tim Freeman, who scored eight of his game total of 12 points in the first quarter. Jim Clarkson had a fine game while leading the Tigers with 17 points.
Lake Roosevelt shot nearly 50 percent, with 34 goals in 71 attempts. Tonasket made 24 of 60 shots. 

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Chelan 71, Tonasket 58
Game 5. (Loser out)
At Chelan, WA

Jim Ansell doesn't look much of a basketball player but he sure gets the job done. The stocky built Ansell was constantly sneaking behind Tonasket defenders and the result was 23 points in an outstanding performance.
The entire Chelan team turned in a stellar effort as the Goats tore apart the Tonasket full-court press from start to finish.
Throughout the "survival contest" Chelan coach Jim Talley could be heard screaming "move, move," and the Goats responded with snappy passes until someone, usually Ansel, broke into the clear for an easy lay-in.
"When we're moving the ball like that, we're really tough to beat," Talley said. "We hustled our tail-ends off for four quarters tonight, instead of the three that happened so frequently during the season."
The Goats surged ahead late in the first period as Ansell scored 10 first-period points. Steve Stamps' field goal at the buzzer gave Chelan a 17-10 lead.
After Tonasket crawled to within four, 21-17. Chelan spurted to a 34-21 halftime margin and Tonasket couldn't recover.
The Tigers were frequently getting burned despite their usually effective press.
"Chelan just played a great game," a disappointed Tonasket coach Gary Jorgenson said. "They really hustled and we hurt ourselves by giving them so many cripples."
The contest got a little out of hand in the third period with several technical fouls whistled. Both teams got in on the act with even a double foul being whistled.
Jorgenson was proud of the way his team bounced back from an 18-point deficit.
"They just sucked in their guts, and played some tough basketball," he said. "They didn't fold. I am just real proud of how they came back from a mid-season slump. We were a tough team the last ten games of the season."
Don Ehrhard capped his Tiger career with a season high total of 20 points.
Backing Ansell in the Goat attack were Brad Bowers with 13 and Stamps with 10. However Stamps may be a question-mark for tonight's rematch with Lake Roosevelt. He suffered a sprain in the final period.
Bob Grandy also scored 10 points for Chelan but it was his work on the backboards that pleased Talley.
"Bob grabbed those rebounds like he owned the backboards," Talley said. "He was a big difference in the game."
Grandy was a difference, but it was Ansell who really sank the Tigers hopes. 

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Omak 49, Lake Roosevelt 43
Game 6. (Championship, winner to state)
At Chelan, WA

The Omak Pioneers now have the opportunity to prove that they are the number one Class "A"  basketball team in the state.
Coach Jim Thacker's team avenged its only setback of the season with a triumph over Lake Roosevelt to win the district championship and earn North Central Washington's number one seed to the state Class "A" tourney opening Wednesday in Tacoma.
The heroes were many in the Pioneer victory, but one young man stood out in particular. He scored only six points in the game but his coach and two teammates couldn't say enough about talented Don McCormack.
McCormack ran the Omak offense like the leadership of an army general commanding his troops. Time after time it was McCormack who either beat the Lake Roosevelt scrambling press with his dribbling or radar-precise passing to mid-court.
It was also McCormack who moved inside to clutch a vital rebound or pass off to a teammate who had the better shot. He accumulated five assists, including three straight to Randy Hair in the second period that kept Omak even with Lake Roosevelt just as it seemed the Raiders might jump into the lead.
And in the second half, again it was McCormack who shadowed the Raiders' offensive leader, Lonnie Warnecke, and held him to just four points.
"Dave won the game for us," said lanky Steve Freimuth. "He kept his cool."
George Webster, who led the Pioneers with 11 points, including some clutch free throws in the fourth quarter agreed, and added another point.
"In the first half our guards did most of the shooting because we didn't move the ball inside," Webster explained. "We came out in the third quarter and penetrated. They started fouling then and we broke it open."
The first half was virtual standoff as the 21-all score indicates.
The Pioneers jumped out front, 6-0, before Lake Roosevelt finally scored with 4:18 to play in the quarter. With Warnecke doing most of the damage, the Raiders caught fire quickly and caught the Pioneers shortly before the end of the period.
The Raiders Doug Beggs then nearly brought the roof crumbling to the floor when he sent a running one-hander sailing the twine from mid-court at the buzzer to put the Raiders in front, 12-10.
Warnecke continued his rugged play around the boards in the second quarter and led the Raiders to the halftime tie. He totaled 10 points in the half but McCormack and the Pioneer defense decisively turned the game in the second half.
Lake Roosevelt mustered only six points in the third quarter and trailed, 33-27. Webster then went to work with six fourth-quarter points and Lake Roosevelt never seriously threatened again.
"The kids tired to give those guys the game," a drenched Thacker said after being thrown in the showers fully clothed. "but McCormack did a heckuva job settling down in the second half."
McCormack was a gracious winner.
"Lake Roosevelt has a real good team and I hope they go to state with us," McCormack said. "Our fans really helped us tonight, too. They were up on their toes screaming their heads off for us tonight."
Warnecke led the Raiders with 14 points but received little scoring help.
Backing Webster in the Pioneer offense was Billy Gunn, whose hustling floor play netted him 10 points.
Of Note: The feelings have been running high between Lake Roosevelt and Omak all season and Friday night's championship struggle was no exception.
The two clubs had split a pair of two-point decisions during the regular season and when Omak on the "big" game the Pioneers let it be known that they were number one.
After the immediate pandemonium that follows such as emotional contest, the Pioneers traditionally cut the nets from the basketball hoops. The mass of joyous Pioneer fans then lifted their coach Jim Thacker on their shoulders and gave him a poster that read "NUMBER 1, ON TO STATE."
Thacker lifted the poster over his head and again and again pointed it toward the Lake Roosevelt rooting section to the cheers of the Omak fans.
"They have been ribbing us ever since they beat us," said Thacker. "I just wanted to let them know who really is number one. There's not much doubt about that now."
Lake Roosevelt coach Jerry Riggan was none too pleased with the gesture and let his feelings be known. 

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Lake Roosevelt 72, Chelan 62
Game 7. (winner to state, loser out)
At Chelan, WA

A weekly get-together at the home of a coach can do a lot for a team.
For the Lake Roosevelt Raiders, a foundation for success was established each Thursday night at the Jerry Riggan residence and now the Raiders know why.
Lake Roosevelt pulled away from Chelan in the fourth quarter here Saturday night to earn a berth in the State Class "A" basketball tournament in Tacoma with their victory over the Goats.
The success of the Raiders all season long began with a weekly dinner at coach Riggan's.  Afterwards the team watched game films and planned strategy for the upcoming games.
"That's were it really all began," Riggan related. "Our team unity came from those sessions and we became a close-knit group."
Riggan also explained that "without any one of my kids, the team wouldn't be the same. They all complement each other, help each other out. I don't think we would have come this far without the reserves."
And if the Raiders ever needed reserves in the Chelan game. Lonnie Warnecke played on just "sheer guts" as he was sick. Richard Wippel was also weak from the flu.
Enter Norris Palmanteer on the scene, from that precious and vital reserve Raider strength.
A jump shot from outside, a breakaway for a cripple, an offensive rebound for two more points and before anyone had realized it, Palmanteer had 18 big points.
When the Raiders needed a lift to start the fourth quarter there was Kenny Renteria hustling all over the floor. The Raiders led by 52-50 when Renteria provided the spark that would lead to a state tournament berth.
He assisted Wippel on a bucket, then scored four of the next six Raider points as they pulled out to a 60-56 lead.
Lonnie Langston, who popped in 20 points for the Raiders, and Wippel combined for the next six points. When Palmanteer scored, Chelan was down 68-58 and the issue was decided.
"Our super-subs did it again," Warnecke said afterwards. "I 'm glad the whole team did something out there tonight. That was the key."
The defeat was Chelan's fourth in a row to the Raiders this season. Jim Talley, Chelan's coach, was a gracious loser.
"I think that the best two teams are representing the Caribou this year and that they both will place," Talley said.
Talley was proud of this kids for their hustling effort, especially that of Brad Bowers.
Bowers, despite have to sit out because of foul problems, scored 25 points for the Goats. Jim Ansell added 15 points for Chelan but although they gave the Raiders a battle for three quarters, it was still to be a the Raiders' night to shine.
Doug Beggs and his teammates all believe that one man is responsible for the Raiders success... Jerry Riggan.
"He's the best coach in the league," Beggs said.
"He pulled us together and made us believe in ourselves."
Wippel said that Riggan "brought us here. He teaches us many things, but poise is, what he wants most. It was our poise in the fourth quarter that won it for us tonight, too."
The Raiders thanked their followers for being so loyal all season long, win or lose.