22nd Annual
North Central District "A"
Boys Basketball Tournament
1979

Champ

ionship

Febr

uary 23

Lake Ro
(22

osevelt
-0)

Score

: 69-51

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Quincy 51, Omak 48
Game 1. (Loser out)
At Omak, WA

Jon Bishop rebounded and scored with six seconds left to give Quincy a 49-48 lead, and then Jim Culp intercepted a long pass, was fouled, and hit two free throws with three seconds remaining to wrap up the win for the Jackrabbits.
Quincy's victory was their first over Daun Brown's Pioneers in three tries this year. Brown coached the Oroville Hornets boys' basketball team the past three years.
Omak, led 28-24, at halftime, but went the first six and one-half minutes of the third quarter without scoring a point.
Meanwhile, the Jacks netted 10 points for a 34-28 advantage, their biggest of the night, but the Pioneers tallied six points in the final 90 seconds of the third period to pull within two points.
Culp finished with 17 points for Quincy, his season-high output, while John Forde (22) and Terry Monahan (16) paced Omak in the scoring department.
Just four Pioneers scored.

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Leavenworth 61, Chelan 60 (OT)
Game 2. (Loser out)
At Chelan, WA

Leavenworth needed a last-second basket to send the game into overtime, and escaped with a victory after the Goats' missed two free throws in the final 11 seconds.
Things looked pretty bleak for the Grizzlies with one second left, trailing 57-55 and a jump ball ensuing. But Leavenworth's David Turner controlled the tip to sophomore guard Darren Weaver who released the game-tying shot just before the buzzer.
Ironically, those were Weaver's only two points of the night.
In the extra period, David Rayfield scored twice to put Leavenworth on top by four. The Goats came back with a basket by Joe Harris and a free throw by Ed Beeson, but missed a free throw and the first end of a one-and-one in the last 11 seconds and the Grizzlies held on for the win.
Leavenworth raced to a 21-13 first quarter lead and held a 39-24 halftime edge, but Chelan rallied to take a 46-45 advantage into the final period.
The Grizzlies had an outstanding shooting night from the field (27-of-47, 57.4 percent), while the Goats were quite impressive from the foul line (20-of-26, 76.9 percent).
Rayfield paced the winners with 16 points, while Rod Darlington (14), Eric Wechselberger (10) and Doug Darlington (10) also scored in double figures.
Chelan's Ken Jenkins led all scorers with 21 points, with Kyle Cotter collecting 12 points and Mike Talley adding 10 for the losers.

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Lake Roosevelt 59, Quincy 51
Game 3.
At Omak, WA

Lake Roosevelt earned a shot at the North Central District "A" boys basketball championship with a win over Quincy here Saturday night.
The Raiders, who never trailed in the contest, carried a 50-34 lead into the final period and cruised to the win.
They meet Leavenworth Friday night at Chelan for the district title, while Quincy will face Cashmere in a loser-out affair which will precede the championship encounter.
For Lake Roosevelt, it was the Raiders' fourth big win in a row. They finished the regular season with a victory over league-champion Cashmere to tie for second place, and then downed Leavenworth and Omak in playoff action to earn the first-round bye in the six team tourney.
In each of their three post-season wins the Raiders have allowed exactly 51 points.
Raider center Steve Ballod had one of his finest games of the year, scoring 16 points to pace the winners' attack. Matt George scored 14 and Todd Mattson netted 12 Lake Roosevelt points.
Quincy's Jim Culp had his second consecutive outstanding tournament game, collecting a season-high 19 points. He had 17 in the Jackrabbits' win over Omak Friday night.
Tom Downs contributed 16 points to the Quincy effort.
The Raiders outscored Quincy by 20 points from the floor, but the Jacks connected on 15-of-25 free throws while Lake Roosevelt was only 3-of-10 from the line.

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Leavenworth 60, Cashmere 58
Game 4.
At Chelan, WA

Basketball games come and go, but every once in a while there's a game that nobody is likely to forget for a long, long time.
Leavenworth's stirring win over Cashmere in the North Central District "A" boys basketball tournament here Saturday was just such a game, at least for the Grizzlies.
David Turner's lay-in with five seconds left, on a feed from Rod Darlington, gave Leavenworth the win, a win that cannot be described as anything less than monumental.
The victory was only the second of the decade for the Grizzlies over Cashmere, and it sent them into their first-ever district championship contest while eliminating Cashmere from the title affair for only the second time in Bill Kelly's six years as Bulldog coach.
A Darlington basket with 1:21 remaining gave coach Sam Willsey's Grizzlies a 58-55 lead, but Mike Barnhart's free throw at the 1:06 mark brought the Bulldogs to within two.
Neither team could score after that until Cashmere guard Walt Whitehall calmly hit a 15-footer, his lone basket of the contest, to tie the score with 18 seconds left.
Then Darlington brought the ball up the floor, following a Leavenworth time-out, faked a shot and hit an open Turner in the middle of the lane for the game winner.
Cashmere had a final chance to force an overtime but Mike Barnhart's 40-foot shot at the buzzer hit the front rim and dropped short.
After Leavenworth had erased an early 10-4 Bulldog lead, neither team was on top by more than four points throughout, the thrilling affair. The game was tied on 12 occasions, and the advantage switched hands 18 times.
Cashmere with Ron Wixom, David Doane and Chris and Mike Barnhart leading the way, got untracked after the first two minutes. Sophomore guard Darren Weaver's two long range baskets were the only Leavenworth points in the initial five minutes.
Then Darlington got hot and began to carry much of the load for the Grizzlies. He hit 10-of-his-last-11 shots, mostly bombs, and finished with 21 points to key the win.
The Bulldogs stayed hot through the first three quarters, but went cold in the final period, just when Leavenworth had its best shooting period.
Wixom netted 14 points through the first three periods, hitting seven of 10 shots from the floor, but was held scoreless in the final eight minutes. And it wasn't because the Bulldogs stopped going to their strength, it was a case of Leavenworth cutting off the middle.
Doane picked up his third and fourth fouls in a 15-second span late in the third quarter and fouled out three minutes into the fourth period, after which the Grizzlies a lot more freedom on the boards and inside offensively.
Besides Darlington, Eric Wechselberger (16) and Turner (9) were the major Grizzly point-producers.
Chris Barnhart's 17 points led the Bulldogs, with Wixom (14), Mike Barnhart (12) and Doane (11) following.
Chris Barnhart, who hit seven of eight free throws, had all of his points in the last three quarters.
"That was a nice one," said Leavenworth coach Willsey. "The kids really needed it. Winning is such a mental thing and hopefully we've overcome that barrier."
Friday night the Grizzlies, for whom last-second wins have become almost common-place this year, squeaked out a 61-60 overtime win over Chelan.
In regular season action Cashmere defeated the Grizzlies twice by decisive margins, but Willsey noted that "we were a better team that what we showed. Cashmere is such a good team that we had to play well to beat them," he added. "The kids decided to relax and play some basketball.
"Now we've got two shots at it (the state tournament)."
The Bulldogs have their backs against the wall. They must win Friday and Saturday, or they will not be spending the first few days of Tacoma, for the first time since Bill Kelly arrived on the scene six years ago.
"I don't think we've been in this position for awhile," Kelly said.
"I was disappointed in our defense and just over-all," he added. "No excuses, we just didn't play well. We had too many sub-par efforts and that was about it.
"You have to compliment Leavenworth. They played well."
Cashmere, usually a dominant force on the boards, held a 20-14 rebounding edge in the first half, but the Grizzlies out-rebounded the Bulldogs in the final two quarters, 16-13.

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Cashmere 57, Quincy 46
Game 5. (Loser out)
At Chelan, WA

Cashmere, with Ron Wixom putting on a dazzling shooting display from the perimeter, was pretty much in charge against Quincy after seizing the lead early in the second period.
Quincy offensed well, with a lot of movement in the first quarter to hit seven of 12 shots and boast a 14-11 lead at one stage. But Wixom and David Doane put the Bulldogs in front at the outset of the second period and Cashmere never again trailed.
The margin was 10 points on a couple of Wixom bombs and another by Walt Whitehall as the third quarter unfolded. And, after one brief Quincy spurt that cut the Cashmere lead to four points, the Bulldogs opened up a 14-point bulge as Wixom dropped in four more field goals.
For the game, Wixom hit 12-of-20 shots, totaled 25 points and also picked off 13 rebounds.
"We did some things pretty well," coach Kelly said in recapping the Cashmere performance. We rebounded well.
Kelly, conceding that his group may not be one of his more talented aggregations, said: "I'm having fun, they're a good group of kids to coach.
Kelly also said that Quincy coach Jim Spence "should be complimented for a good job with his crew."
Said Spence, of the season overall: "We're disappointed, but not unhappy.
"I've had more fun this year. These kids are super to he around and they played as hard as they could."
As for the season-ending loss to Cashmere, he noted: "For some reason, we're turnover-prone this year. We don't shoot the ball that well, so we can't afford those turnovers."
After offensing well in the first quarter, Quincy lost some of its movement and penetration. Explained Spence: "Our offense is keyed to getting the ball to Tom Downs. In the second and third quarters we didn't get the ball to Downs.
"To be effective, we've got to get the ball inside."
Declared Jim Culp, one of Quincy's solid hustlers: "We've come a lot further than anybody thought we would."
Culp and Downs, with 10 points apiece, were the only Jackrabbits to hit double figures.
Bulldog Mike Barnhart followed Wixom in the scoring columns with 11 points.
Cashmere showed only a 23-22 field goal edge, hitting 23 of 50 shots to Quincy's 22 of 56, but Quincy had only six free throw opportunities, canning two.
Rebounding favored Cashmere slightly, 32-28.

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Lake Roosevelt 69, Leavenworth 51
Game 6. (Championship, winner to state)
At Chelan, WA

For coach Darrell Boorman, the Lake Roosevelt High School basketball season reached a most satisfying climax here Friday night.
Satisfying, because Boorman's Raiders rated little or no consideration from the dopesters or his fellow Caribou Trail League coaches, as a possible title contenders, at the season's out-set.
But today, the Raiders from Grand Coulee Dam are reigning as basketball champions of the North Central District "A" schools and are headed for a state tourney assignment in Tacoma.
They claimed that title and that reward with a convincing victory over Leavenworth Friday night.
Lake Roosevelt, reaching its peak at exactly the right time, is a fine blend of players who are not blessed with great talent but work together well.
That's what they did to Leavenworth, which compounded its own problems, things with a none-to-sharp performance.
"The thing that's been the key," Boorman said in the joyous atmosphere of the Lake Roosevelt dressing room. "the other three starters really came along the last three weeks."
"Matt George and Todd Mattson carried us all season."
The "other three" head reference to are Steve Ballod, Randy Jackson and Jim Orr.
Then there was "sixth-man" Mike Knutson, who played a great defensive game against Leavenworth and came through with eight key points in his reserve role.
"The Knutson kid, he's tough," Boorman offered. "He came in and did a job."
Going into the championship battle, the Raider coach said: "We told them before the game that "defense wins the big ones, and we played the good D."
That they did. The Raiders combined that excellent defensive work with a superb job of rebounding, plus Mattson's tremendous tempo-controlling darts and dashes that contribute to getting the opposing team disorganized, for the victory.
Lake Roosevelt picked off 17 rebounds from its offensive boards and out-rebounded the Grizzlies by a 37-26 margin over-all. Ballod, who "has really come on for us," according to Boorman, led the rebounding with 14 and George controlled 11.
Leavenworth contributed greatly to its own downfall. The Grizzlies fell behind, 12-2, at the outset and never did get rolling. Lake Roosevelt, with Mattson leading the down-floor fast-break surges off Leavenworth turnovers, got the Grizzlies off balance.
Leavenworth did start finding the range late in the game to make one belated run at the Raiders.
Said Boorman: "Their shooters scare me."
The Raiders had some shooters of their own, including George who scored 24 points. Mattson, who collected 12, and Ballad and Orr, both in double figures.
Rod Darlington scored 15 points for Leavenworth.
Boorman feels that a three-way tie for second place in the CTL was the key to Lake Roosevelt's peaking at the season's end. A win over Cashmere, lifting the Raider into that tie for second, in the league finale "got us going." Boorman said.
"The best thing that happened was the three-way tie for second" and the subsequent playoffs for seeding into the tournament. Lake Roosevelt is tournament tested, now, having played four post-season games, all wins, including the two playoff games."

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Cashmere 64, Leavenworth 59 (OT)
Game 7. (winner to state, loser out)
At Chelan, WA

Cashmere's Bulldogs, who seem to be a fixture at the State Class "A" basketball tournament, will be making their sixth appearance in as many seasons in the Tacoma tourney.
Cashmere claimed the North Central District's number two spot with a thrilling overtime thriller over valley rival Leavenworth here Saturday night.
Mike Barnhart's clutch shot, on a drive down the middle, with two seconds to play lifted Cashmere into a 56-all tie and sent the game into overtime. Although the final margin may indicate otherwise, it was tight until the final seconds of overtime.
Chris Barnhart gave Cashmere a three-point lead at the outset of the overtime, and Leavenworth came back to within one and two points and had its opportunities.
But Darren Davis made the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw situation with nine seconds remaining to up the Cashmere lead to 62-59 and Mike Barnhart sealed the victory, and the state berth, with a field goal at the end.
In the final, hectic seconds of regulation, Leavenworth's Rod Darlington went to the line with a chance to stretch a two-point Grizzly lead, but he missed. Mike Barnhart rebounded and Cashmere called timeout. Then Barnhart found the opening down the middle and drove for the game-tying lay-in with just two seconds remaining.
Ron Wixom, in a typical shooting display away from the basket, drilled in 12 field goals to score 25 points, for Cashmere for the second straight night. David Doane added 14 to the Cashmere total.
Leavenworth had four double-figure scorers, topped by David Rayfield's 19 points, Darren Weaver's 14 and Doug Darlington's 13.
Both teams played it hard and tough all the way, hitting the boards aggressively.