20th Annual
North Central District "A"
Boys Basketball Tournament
1977

Champ

ionship

Febr

uary 26

Cash
(22

mere
-0)

Score

: 92-71

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Ephrata 78, Lake Roosevelt 60
Game 1. (Loser out)
At Chelan, WA

Ephrata is another improving ball club that simply out-hustled the bigger Lake Roosevelt Raiders in every department Friday night. The Tigers, positioning well, even out-rebounded the Raiders by a 36-29 margin, aided by a 21-9 first half boarding advantage.
"That blocking out is not an accident," said Ephrata coach Jim Livengood in post-game comments, noting that his Tigers have spent a lot of time working on it.
After spotting Lake Roosevelt the first basket of the game, Ephrata led all the way and owned a stunning 56-31 advantage late in the third quarter.
The Tigers hit Lake Roosevelt with every type of offensive weaponry to shoot a dazzling 51.7 percent, on 30 field goals in 58 attempts.
Tim McNamera found the range from outside for 17 points, Sheldon Isreal struck from all around the key for 17 more and Mike Smick added 12 points, mainly on perimeter shooting. Hustling Joe Silver and Hal Killian led a fast-break that produced a number of Ephrata buckets, and the Tigers further capitalized on the offensive boards.
Silver was all over the floor in picking off loose balls and hounding the Raiders.
Livengood also noted the contribution of Karl Baughman who "really helped with some key boards, and he's just learning."
The Raiders, who had become somewhat frustrated, finally were able to pick up the offensive tempo in the final period and salvage some respectability.
Reserve Julian Vargas led the Lake Roosevelt attack with 15 points and Craig Loe scored 13 before fouling out.
"No matter what happens from here on out, this was a big one for us," Livengood declared.
Of the challenge facing the Tigers (against Quincy) to night, Livengood said. "I think we've got a shot at them, especially if we play with that same kind of enthusiasm."

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Oroville 66, Omak 51
Game 2. (Loser out)
At Chelan, WA

Oroville's Cinderella Hornets, sixth-place qualifiers from the Caribou Trail League, played splendidly to cut down number fourth seeded Omak.
Oroville, by winning, was rewarded with a match-up against unbeaten Cashmere, in the finale of tonight's semifinal round.
The Oroville win Friday night was more than just a win.
The evening was a highly emotional occasion for Oroville: one could see it on the faces of the players as the final minutes wound down; one could see it in the crowd of Oroville fans who were clamoring to be seated in the gym at 6pm, and one could certainly see it when Jack Hughes went off the floor after playing 31 minutes and 32 seconds along with the other Oroville starters.
When coach Daun Brown made his first substitutions with 28 seconds remaining in the game, Hughes, the Hornets' block-like pivot-man, went to the bench and lifted Brown right off the floor in a touching victory embrace.
The victory was Oroville's first in district tournament play since 1966, Brown related later.
Just being in a tournament was a big event for the players and Oroville fans, alike.
"The credit's got to go to the kids," Brown said in a praise of his Hornets. "You've got to give them credit on defense."
"They shut down their (Omak's) inside game."
Brown, in his second year as Oroville coach, added: "They're a great bunch of kids. We're pretty close.
"The most important part of our ball club is we have a lot of Christian kids."
He admitted to being pretty tough on his players earlier in the season, but those three and a half hour practice sessions have paid off. The Hornets were 3-17 in the CTL in Brown's first year (1975-76) at the helm.
Of the grueling practice sessions, he said, "We had to catch up on our fundamentals."
The Hornets, with a freshman, sophomore and junior in the starting lineup, learned their fundamentals well.
They worked for the good shot in a brilliant display of unselfishness to frequently find the open man and concoct a 53 percent shooting mark (26 field goals in 49 attempts) against Omak.
The Hornets, after missing their first seven shots of the second quarter, took charge with a flurry of four straight baskets without a miss at the mid-point of the period. Mike Carlquist, Mike Gray and Alan Edel were the main contributors as Oroville broke away to a 27-19 halftime lead.
After twice slicing the deficit to four points early in the second half, Omak began to fade, succumbing to Oroville's evenly paced offensive tempo. The Hornets hit eight of 13 shots in the third quarter and never eased the pressure.
Carlquist played a fine game and led the Hornets in scoring with 16 points. The other four starters, including Greg Moser, also scored in double figures, Gray scored 15, Hughes, working effectively inside, bagged 13, and Edel added 12.
Omak, hitting 23 of 56 attempts, showed 41 percent shooting accuracy. The Pioneers, trying desperately  to get back into the game in the final quarter, out-rebounded Oroville 11-4, in that period, but finished with a mere, 25-24 rebounding edge overall.
Glen Austin led the Pioneers with 14 points.
Said a deeply disappointed Omak coach Jim Brucker: "They took the game to us, they played well. They've also really improved."
As for Oroville's assignment (against Cashmere) tonight: "We're looking forward to it," said a smiling Brown.
Of Note: Omak decided March 8, 1977 to search for a new boys' basketball coach as the board of directors decided not to rehire Jim Brucker. Superintendent John Turner said the coaching position has not yet been tied to any other teaching job. He said the normal attrition rate for teachers should allow for the district to actively recruit for a new teacher-coach for next year.

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Cashmere 85, Oroville 47
Game 3.
At Chelan, WA

One must give Oroville credit for showing up for the second half Saturday night. The Hornets saw Cashmere's game at its finest in the first half as the Bulldogs classily swept to leads of 21-2 (in the first five and a half minutes) and 31-6 (90 seconds into the second quarter). Bulldog coach Bill Kelly then began going to the bench.
Even so the flood of Cashmere points continued until it was 66-27 (with two and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter) and 75-33 (55 seconds into the fourth quarter).
It was staggering.
After that, things got ratty, and Kelly's omission alone. And he doesn't like ratty ball.
"They got a little ratty towards the end," said Kelly, ever the critic, whose Bulldogs now own 21 straight victories without defeat.
He said, however, that "I was pleased."
"We came out ready to play.
"It's tough sitting around all week."
He's looking for a tough ball game from Quincy, a team which pushed Cashmere into overtime in their second meeting during the Caribou campaign.
"We're going to have a tough time with Quincy," he warned. "They're so darned big."
While Cashmere's first five must be credited with playing its typical beautiful full-court pressing, fast-breaking, relentless rebounding game, Kelly made a special note of Scott Shook's performance in a reserve role.
"Shook played well off the bench," Kelly said. Mark Johnson, also off the bench, show signs of coming back from an injury and being ready to make a major contribution.
While Phil Barnhart (17 points) and Keith Collins (20), are the ones who put the "go" into the Cashmere attack, Dale Flick and Bruce Parkins also blended well with the assault against Oroville.
And Joel Clark, the other junior starter (12 points) joined Shook (10), Barnhart and Collins as double-figure scorers.
Oroville's game was disrupted by numerous turnovers, many of them caused by the Cashmere press, in the first quarter and the result was 16 unanswered Bulldog points over one stretch.
The first quarter pretty well tells the story. Oroville managed just seven shots in those eight minutes, while Cashmere, rebounding for numerous second shots, attempted 22.
Cashmere maintained this same furious offensive pace throughout the racked up 79 shots canning 33. Oroville, on the other hand, was limited to 49 tries and sank 18.
Oroville after being stifled by the Bulldogs (23-6) on the boards in the first half, put up a determined argument in the second half and wound up the short end of the 45-27 rebounding totals.
Losing coach Daun Brown called Cashmere "a super basketball team" and said that Bill's (Kelly) done a super job with super kids."
Brown said that, although he was "disappointed in our performance, I'm still proud of our kids."
He felt that the Hornets just "no zip in their legs" after their intense struggle with Omak the previous night. "Last night took a lot out of our kids," Brown said.
"I still feel we can play a little better than we did." Looking ahead to the battle with Ephrata, Brown said, "I think we can come back."
Mike Carlquist, one of three seniors on this club, again led the Hornets with 14 points. 

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Quincy 70, Ephrata 58
Game 4.
At Chelan, WA

Mike Royer, a 6-1 junior guard, did it all for Quincy, and when he wasn't hurting Ephrata, tall Paul Collard was.
Royer scored on three straight steals in the first quarter and added a fourth steal-and-cripple in the second period.
In the fourth quarter, he single-handedly out-rebounded a tiring Ephrata team.
In the end, Royer had 33 points, after helping Quincy to 48 percent shooting.
No coach ever gets tired of talking about Royer and his talents, but Quincy coach Jim Spence preferred to discuss the defense Saturday night.
He was elated with his team's defensive play, man-to-man, except for a while in the second quarter. "We owe this one to the defense," Spence exclaimed.
"We talk about being a good shooting club, but we owe this one to the defense."
The Jackrabbits, who were down (35-31) at halftime, "went out in the second half and really played some defense, played good man-to-man defense," Spence said.
Ephrata coach Jim Livengood, though, thought his Tigers were just plain weary after putting out a maximum effort against Lake Roosevelt the previous night. "We just flat ran out of gas," Livengood said. He pointed out that Quincy was "fresh."
"We did not get into our offensive pattern," Livengood said, in explaining Ephrata's untypical conservative play in the third quarter.
However, Livengood declared, "We'll be back. We're not down."
Ephrata, although down by 12-6 after Royer's first three steals, came back to lead by seven points on three occasions in the second quarter as Ed McNamera, Sheldon Isreal and Mike Smick found the range from outside.
When Ephrata slowed things down in the third quarter, Quincy took charge. And then in the final period, the Jackrabbits overwhelmed Ephrata, 13-4, on the boards to put it away.
Quincy received key performances from guard Eddie Ambriz, possibly the Jackrabbits' most improved ball player this season, reserve Bill Porter and gangling John Rylaarsdam.
Both Rylaarsdam and Porter made key assists and the red-head (Rylaarsdam) did a nice job around the boards.
Of Ambriz, Spence says: "He takes charge out there when we need something to be done."
Collard scored 18 points before going out of action with four minutes to play with a sprained wrist. The injury is not believed to be serious. Ambriz contributed 12 points.
Isreal led the Tigers with 22 points and was followed by McNamera (15) and Smick (12).
Ephrata did not shoot badly (25-of-58 for 43 percent, compared to Quincy's 28-of-58), but was smothered on the boards (37-23).
But, as Spence post-scripted: "All this is for nothing, unless we win one more."

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Oroville 65, Ephrata 57
Game 5. (Loser out)
At Chelan, WA

"What can I say?" said an elated Oroville coach Daun Brown, after his Oroville team ended Ephrata's season.
"I'm happy for the kids. They worked so hard for this week."
He applauded the "tremendous fan support" that his Hornets have received and again attributed the Hornets' success to "The Man up there, the Lord.
"He's our sixth-man. He's always in there."
Brown also said that he wants "to give a lot of the credit to our assistant coach, Terry Thornton."
Oroville and Ephrata battled it out on fairly even terms most of the way, then the Hornets had a spurt of three straight baskets, on key assists from Mark Kosonen, Kurt Brownlee and Mike Carlquist at the midpoint of the fourth quarter for a sudden 55-47 lead.
Ephrata came back within four and could have gained some momentum when Hal Killian won a one-on-one confrontation from Carlquist at mid-court and went in for an uncontested lay-in. But even that execution didn't make it happen for Ephrata. Oroville's Greg Moser scored the next six points and the Hornets were in control by 10 with one minute remaining.
Oroville had to overcome some adversity in those late minutes as two starters fouled out. Kosonen and Brownlee, in reserve roles, came through brilliantly and received praise from Brown.
Brownlee, he said did "a super defensive job and made a couple of assists" after replacing Mike Gray with four-and-a-half minutes to play.
With two starters our of there when the game got down to the pressure point, "The kids didn't lose their poise," Brown noted.
A key factor in the outcome, though was shot selection. While Oroville worked for the good shot, Ephrata relied on its perimeter shooting.  But credit the Oroville defense, too, which played a tough man-to-man.
Moser, a sophomore scored 18 points; Gray, a freshman, added 12, and Carlquist, playing his usual all-around good game, scored 11.
Sheldon Isreal and Joe Silver led the Tigers with 14 and 12, respectively.
"We were just flat," said a disappointed Ephrata coach Jim Livengood. "We just never got into the game, never got into the swing of things.
"They just plain out-scrapped us."
Oroville's selective shooting resulted in 46.2 percent accuracy, on 24 baskets in 52 tries. Ephrata hit 22-of-64 for 34.4 percent and won the battle of the boards, 45-32.

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Cashmere 92, Quincy 71
Game 6. (Championship, winner to state)
At Chelan, WA

Now that  Cashmere has disposed of all challengers in North Central Washington, the Bulldogs are ready to take on the rest of the state.
Cashmere, for the third time in four years under coach Bill Kelly, has earned a trip to the State "A" basketball tournament in Tacoma.
This time they go into the tourney with a perfect record in 22 games this season. Their 22nd straight win was a convincing win over Quincy's Jackrabbits in the North Central District "A" championship affair, witnessed by a full house, here Friday night.
Now the Jackrabbits are in the same situation they were in a year ago at this time, they've got to bounce back tonight and try to corral that number two berth in the state tourney. They failed a year ago after losing in the championship test.
Jim Spence's Jackrabbits will take on the season's top surprise, the Oroville Hornets, in that second-place battle at 7:30pm.
Cashmere, when it opens state play Wednesday at the University of Puget Sound Fieldhouse, will be seeking to repeat its amazing State A tourney conquest of 1975. Those Bulldogs won the state championship.
But this time, Cashmere boasting a perfect record going in, will be everybody's target.
However, coach Kelly doesn't seem overly concerned about that time of pressure.  His is a free-wheeling ball club, without much height much like the team that brought back the-first place trophy in '75.
"Now we're ready," Kelly declared following Cashmere's win Friday night. "I think we're going to do well over there,"
"At the beginning of the year, I was worried about big teams," Now, that size isn't a big concern, he indicated.
Keith Collins, who poured in 24 points, 16 of them in the first half, drew plaudits from Kelly. "That kid did a heckuva job," Kelly said.
Until the customary late-game rattiness, Cashmere played a practically mistake-free ball game. "I'll bet we didn't have three turnovers before I called time-out with about three minutes to play," Kelly noted. In all, the Bulldogs had just four turnovers, all in the second half.
Further, Kelly pointed out, Cashmere had eight steals, to zero steals by Quincy. He felt that was an important statistic.
Mark Johnson dogged defensive work against Quincy scoring threat Mike Royer was also vital to the Cashmere effort.
As usual though, it was a balanced affair Cashmere. Everyone had to pick up the slack after Phil Barnhart collected two fouls in the first two minutes.
Barnhart was able to stay out of serious foul trouble most of the way, and when he did foul out with 3:42 remaining, the game was already out of reach.
Kelly was elated with the Bulldogs' balanced scoring, which shows Barnhart with 18 points, Dale Flick with 14 and Mark Johnson with 13.
Cashmere shot a blistering 50 percent-plus, by sinking 36 field goals in 71 attempts. Quincy, after hitting an even 50 percent in the first half, finished with a 42.1 mark on 24 baskets in 57 tries.
Rebounding favored the Bulldogs, 35-29.
In spite of these statistical advantages, it wasn't until Cashmere put together an unanswered flurry of 10 points to open the second half that the Bulldog broke the game open.
Quincy had led early, at 12-8, before a sudden burst of scoring sent the Bulldogs screaming to a 28-23 quarter-ending lead.
Even though Paul Collard was capitalizing repeatedly for lay-ins against the Cashmere press, during this offensive exchange late in the first quarter, Quincy could not keep pace with the relentless Cashmere attack.
Quincy was down by only six, 46-40, after a furious first-half, but the Jackrabbits experienced a damaging lapse at the outset of the second half and it was all over.
With the fourth quarter barely two minutes old, Cashmere owned a stunning, 78-53 lead.
Collard, scoring on rebounds and against the press, scored 15 points in the first quarter, but finished with 17. Royer led the Jackrabbits with 19 and Eddie Ambriz chipped in with 15 points and a spirited performance.
Quincy "burned" Cashmere, Kelly said, early when the Bulldogs came out in a half-court trap press and zone defense. Eventually, the Bulldogs went to a 2-2-1 press then were "man-to-man" all over the court."
"They do a super job," Quincy coach Spence said of Cashmere. "They're so quick."
He added that he feels that his ball club "can comeback" tonight against Oroville.

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Quincy 74, Oroville 67 (OT)
Game 7. (winner to state, loser out)
At Chelan, WA

The Quincy Jackrabbits won a close one, and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time.
The Jackrabbits ended Oroville's astounding state tournament bid, but not before the scrappy Hornets had forced the game into overtime with a miraculous fourth quarter here Saturday night.
Quincy, with a throng of screaming fans enjoying every second of this wild game, finally put the Hornets away to claim the North Central District's number two berth to the State "A" tournament.
This scintillating struggle was a fitting climax to the North Central District "A" tourney. It matched the Caribou Trail League's second-place team with Oroville's "Cinderella" crew of determined hustlers, a club which finished sixth in the league.
In the end, Quincy's talent won the game, but Oroville's amazing fortitude, and never-give-up attitude, nearly enabled the Hornets to pull off a minor miracle.
Quincy, after dead-even first half in which neither team led by more than four points, constructed a healthy 10-point lead with six and a half minutes to play.
But the Hornets, as they've been doing all season, refused to quit. The Jackrabbit, apparently believing that the game was in the bag, started standing around. Suddenly Oroville was back in it, taking a 61-60 lead with 1:59 to play on Jack Hughes three-point play.
But the dramatics were only beginning. Bill Porter, playing the game of his life, sank two free throws to give Quincy a one-point edge, 62-61.
Then with just seven seconds remaining John Rylaarsdam cashed the front end of a bonus free throw situation: Quincy 63, Oroville 61.
Rylaarsdam missed the second shot, Oroville rebounded and Mike Carlquist streaked down court, driving all the way to the tying bucket at the final buzzer. The place turned into a madhouse of frenzied celebration... all by Oroville fans, players and coaches, of course.
But it was short-lived pandemonium.
Quincy's Mike Royer took charge in the overtime, scoring six straight points, the final two at the foul line following a flagrant technical foul on Carlquist for tackling Royer from behind.
Porter, appropriately, gift-wrapped the victory with a three-point play to give the Jackrabbits a 72-63 lead. Quincy wound up scoring 11 points in just three minutes of overtime after managing just 11 points the entire fourth quarter.
"The kids quit trying to go to the basket," coach Jim Spence commented in explaining Quincy's fourth-period problems.
Much of the credit for Quincy's win must go to Porter. In the third quarter alone, Porter scored 13 of Quincy's 17 points, nearly all from long range, setting up a career-high 26 points for the 6-2 junior. Porter's previous best offensive showing had been 18 points. He averages fewer than 10 per game.
"Porter really picked us up," said Spence. "When the chips are down, he really puts out. He's a competitor. This is the first close game these kids have won, going back to when they were freshman.
"This is the best bunch of kids I've ever been associated with. I love every one of 'em.
Royer, Quincy's "Mr. Clutch" all season, "did it again" said Spence. "He's done so much for us all year."
The Jackrabbits staged a rousting celebration in the locker room, causing this reaction from Spence: "We're not an emotional team but we're sure emotional right now.
"I really wanted to get these kids to state this year, for the seniors  because it's their last year and they've been such good leaders, and for the juniors so they can find out what it's like. They (the juniors) are going to become hungry like Cashmere is now."
Spence also voiced respect for the young Oroville club.
"What can I say, those guys really came to play," Spence said. "He (coach Daun Brown) has done a remarkable job with them."
In the Oroville locker room, the Hornets were surprisingly composed, dressed in street clothes and waiting to meet with coach Brown.
"We should have had 'em," Brown said. "But we lost our poise in the last 46 seconds. We made too many judgment mistakes in the last two minutes. I guess that's coaching. I take responsibility for that."
"I felt that our kids showed a lot of guts," Brown added. "I'm really proud of all the guys. To make it this far is a tribute to them. They had faith in each other and worked together as a team."
Statistically, Quincy's victory margin came at the foul line, where the Jackrabbits downed 20-of-26 compared to Oroville's 7-of-10.
Oroville scored three more field goals, 30 to 27, the Hornets in 65 attempts, Quincy in 60. Turnovers were equal, 15 apiece, and rebounding favored Quincy by a scant, 31-29 count.