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Tonasket 63, Oroville 51
Game 9. (Loser out)
At Omak, WA

Cory Whitmore scored Tonasket's first eight points and the Tigers shrugged off a sluggish start to beat Oroville.
Grant Gilleland's 15 points and 10 rebounds led Tonasket.

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Cashmere 79, Ephrata 53
Game 10. (Loser out)
At Omak, WA

Defense made all the difference for Cashmere, which used a man-to-man defense to thwart Ephrata throughout the game.
The Bulldogs jumped ahead early and were solidly in control the rest of the game. From a 12-point halftime lead, Cashmere let the Tigers get no closer than 10 points.
"We manned them the whole game, didn't give (Ephrata) any gaps," said Cashmere coach Steve Biehn. "We got up in their faces."
One example of the Bulldog's defense was in Ephrata tossing up only 11 3-point shots, sinking three.
Jon Day paced the Cashmere attack with 25 points, including 12 third-quarter points when the Bulldogs pulled away. Matt Luckensmeyer played a solid game in the middle, scoring 18 points, including several key baskets.
Cashmere also received solid play from Gregg Smith, who dished out five assists, Dave Goehner, who grabbed 10 rebounds, and Jeff Aguigui who made two key steals in the third period.
Dan Friesz scored 13 points and Travis King 11 for Ephrata, which finished the season 12-11.

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Tonasket 72, Cashmere 51
Game 11. (Loser out)
At Omak, WA

Tonasket was behind at halftime. And feeling good about it.
What made the Tigers happy was that Cashmere after dominating the first half, led by only four points at intermission.
Then Tonasket made its fans happy by outscoring the Bulldogs 26-9 in the third period, en route to a loser-out victory in the North Central District "A" boys basketball tournament.
Cashmere controlled the first half, leading by as many 11 points midway through the second quarter. But Mike Ramon gunned in a 3-point shot late in the half and Erv Veit hit a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to pull Tonasket within four points.
"We knew we didn't play well in the first half and we felt fortunate to be only down by four at halftime," said Tonasket coach Keith Johnson. "Then we went out and played the best half of the year."
Tonasket wasted little time getting back in the contest. Veit hit a 3-pointer to open the second half and soon the Tigers pulled even, 34-34. Tonasket took the lead for good on a Ramon 3-pointers, part of a 13-0 run which was capped by another Ramon 3-pointer. And when Ramon somehow made an off-balanced, 3-point shot off the glass at the buzzer, the Tigers led 53-40 after three periods.
In all, Ramon buried six 3-point shots in  scoring a career-high 20 points.
Cashmere "was going to make us beat them on the outside," said Johnson. "Luckily, we made our shots."
"They got a little hot on us and we didn't adjust," said Cashmere coach Steve Biehn. "We wanted to see if those guys could (make 3-point shots). Those two guys, Ramon and Veit, stepped in and did it."
Tonasket also received double-digit scoring from starters Grant Gilleland (15 points), Chris Bolz (13) and Veit (10).
Jon Day paced Cashmere with 15 points, Aaron Vance tallied 13 points and Gregg Smith 10 points.
"If we'd have stayed with the things we were doing in the first half, I felt we could have beat them," said Biehn. "We're all right. The kids had a nice year." 

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Cascade-Leavenworth 40, Lake Roosevelt 36
Game 12. (Championship, winner to state)
At Omak, WA

The Cascade High boys basketball team something to prove.
That motivation combined with a stellar defense performance, was enough to lift the Kodiaks to a victory  over Lake Roosevelt in the North Central District "A" boys basketball tournament here Friday.
The Cascade players said they had something to prove, after losing twice to the Raiders during the Caribou Trail League season. The first match-up was he league opener and in the second, the Kodiaks played without leading scorer Curt Ranta.
"I went back and looked at the films of both games." said Cascade coach Pat Fromm. "I couldn't understand why we didn't win that first game. And we we played well enough to win the second game, too.
"I just felt this was our second game against them. I just hoped I wouldn't lose any hair over it."
"We were waiting for it and I was waiting for it," said Ranta, who controlled the key in scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, both game-high totals.
Eighth-ranked Cascade needed every ounce of motivation and energy in order to beat the third-ranked Lake Roosevelt, which had lost only to a junior touring team from Australia this season.
After Ranta's dunk early in the second quarter, the Kodiaks led until the finish. But the game was in doubt until Paul Obergh sank two free throws with four seconds to play.
"It wasn't a picture of offensive beauty, but a heck of a defensive effort. That's what brought us to the dance," said Fromm.
The Cascade defense was so strong that the normally high-flying Raiders scored half of their 71.5 points-per-game average and 12 fewer than their next lowest total. The Kodiaks held Lake Roosevelt starters Lewis Adrian, Eric Garvin and Karmen Blake, good for an average of 31 points, to 10 points on a collective 3-for-31 shooting performance.
In all, the Raiders shot a dismal 26 percent, including 5-for-25 accuracy in the first half.
"We just couldn't convert, that was the big thing," said Lake Roosevelt coach Tom Johnson. "A lot of little things added up to big things."
Cascade made the plays it needed to make to stay ahead, while the Raiders couldn't convert when they had chances to get back in the game.
The Kodiaks took charge of a close game late in the third quarter, scoring six consecutive points, all inside the key, to build a 32-25 lead. Lake Roosevelt used its trapping defense to force turnovers and scrambled back within two points early in the fourth quarter, making it 34-32 following Tim Hare's three-point play.
Lake Roosevelt got as close as 35-34 with 3:03 to play, but the Raiders blew chances to take the lead on a missed shot from close range and a turnover.
With less than two minutes left, the Kodiak's Kevin Hansen was avoiding the Lake Roosevelt traps when he found a clear lane to the basket. Hansen temporarily lost control of the ball, then recovered it in time to toss up an underhanded scoop from close range which crawled over the front of the rim, into the basket, giving Cascade a 37-34 lead with 1:11 left.
The Raiders responded on Garvin's eight footer. Cascade played keep-away, until Ranta was fouled by Hare with 11 seconds to play. Official Jerry Heilig ruled it an intentional foul and Ranta made one of two shots. With the intentional foul, the Kodiaks retained possession and Obergh was fouled with four seconds to play.
After a Lake Roosevelt timeout, Obergh cleanly dropped in the both ends of the one-and-one t seal the district title.
During the timeout, "we just explored all the possibilities," said Fromm. Paul got the job done, so we didn't have to worry about that."
Obergh, a sophomore, said afterward that he didn't feel any pressure. However, making the first free throw, "made the second one a lot easier," he said.
The Kodiaks, besides out-shooting Lake Roosevelt, also pounded out a 34-26 rebounding advantage, including a 19-8 spread in the second-half. Ranta had seven rebounds in the second half, nearly matching the Raiders' total, and David Smith snagged seven rebounds.
Lake Roosevelt stayed in the game with its pressing defense, which, forced the Kodiaks into 21 turnovers, 13 in the second half, Adrian had four steals to lead the way.
Hare and Cory Hammer were the only Raiders to shoot effectively. Hare made all three of his field goal tries and all five foul shots to finish with 11 points. Hammer, in foul trouble much of the game, scored 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
"We're not dead," said Johnson. "We're winners and have had a successful season. It's not over yet."

Lake Roosevelt 88, Tonasket 47
Game 13. (Winner to state, loser out)
At Eastmont High School

"Did you see a monkey run by here?" asked Lake Roosevelt coach Tom Johnson. "It got off my back about the middle of the third quarter and disappeared."
That was about the time that Johnson and the Raiders removed any doubt about who would win Saturday's North Central District "A" tournament second-place game. The overwhelming victory over Tonasket in the Eastmont gym give Lake Roosevelt back-to-back trips to the State "A" tourney.
The third-ranked Raiders had entered the tournament favored to repeat as district champions. Then Cascade beat Lake Roosevelt Friday.
"I sure didn't get any sleep (Friday night)," said Johnson. The title game defeat "kind of popped the bubble."
The loss may have also relieved some pressure.
"Tonight was much more relaxed," said guard Lewis Adrian, who tossed in a team-high 20 points for the Raiders. "Friday was too intense. It was a loss that brought us back to reality."
The reality for the Lake Roosevelt players was that they would have to play with intensity on defense and use that push to ignite the offense. Against Tonasket, the Raiders did just that, using a half-court trap to force 30 turnovers, turning many into fast-break baskets. Add in a 52-32 rebound edge, including 24 offensive rebounds, and the Raiders had the ball enough times to toss up 24 more shots from the field and outscore Tonasket 17-3 at the foul line.
Lake Roosevelt wasted little time demonstrating that it was on top of its game. Adrian's lay-in off a turnover opened the scoring and Cory Hammer's power drive to the basket made in 4-0. Soon the lead was 7-2 and then 19-5. Tonasket never got closer that 10 points after that.
Johnson said he knew everything was on track when he saw the Raiders' defensive intensity.
"When I saw Cory (Hammer) moving around back there, I knew we were OK," he said. "The whole rotation of the press was right.
"We've been winning game all season with the press. I don't think we've run it much better than this."
"We had to make-up for (Friday) night's mistakes," said Adrian.
Adrian, with five steals, and Hammer and Ryan Vordahl, with three steals each, led Lake Roosevelt's defensive charge. Adrian scored 15-of-his 20 points and snagged seven-of-his-nine rebounds in the first half, which finished with the Raiders on top 43-18.
Tonasket had given Lake Roosevelt fits the last two seasons, so Johnson was a bit surprised by the halftime margin.
The second half wasn't much kinder for Tonasket, which never got within 20 points. With the exception of Reese Ande, who struck for 20 points and seven rebounds, the Tigers struggled to score throughout the game.
"We just didn't have a good game and Lake Roosevelt is a great team," said Tonasket coach Keith Johnson. "They were really motivated to come back and get second place."
The balanced Lake Roosevelt attack had four players scoring in double figures, Besides Adrian's 20 points, the Raiders picked up 16 points from Eric Garvin, 13 from Karmen Blake and 12 from Hammer, who also delivered 14 rebounds and four blocked shots. Vordahl delivered a solid performance of the bench, connecting for eight points and six rebounds.
While Friday's loss was a blow, the Raiders appear to be on track heading into the state tournament.
"I still think we're the number one team out of this league," Johnson said.

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Tournament Scoring Leaders