20th Annual
North Central District "A"
Girls Basketball Tournament
1995
  First Round Semifinals

Champ

ionship

 Semifinals First Round  
                           
                          District Main
                           
    #6 Cashmere
(9-11)		                 #5 Omak
(10-10)		    
                 
                 
    Game 1.   Okanogan
(17-4)		         Omak
(11-10)		   Game 2.    
        Score: 74-29         Score: 65-60        
                           
    #3 Okanogan
(16-4)		   Game 3.   Liberty Bell
(14-7)		         #4 Quincy
(13-7)		    
        Score: 60-59 (OT)            
                         
        Game 8.  

Om
(13

ak
-10)

            
           

Score

: 47-46

           
                 
              Omak
(12-10)		   Game 4.        
        Score: 68-60        
                     
        #2 Liberty Bell
(13-7)		         #1 Cascade
(20-0)		        
                       
Losers Bracket                          
    Cashmere
(9-12)		         Liberty Bell
(14-8)		            
                     
    Game 5.   Cascade
(21-1)		     Game 9.
Loser 3rd		   Cascade
(23-1)		    
    Score: 67-46         Score: 65-59    
    Cascade
(20-1)		                  
  Game 7.
Loser 4th		     Cascade
(22-1)		        
    Quincy
(13-8)		       Score: 54-39        
                     
    Game 6.   Okanogan
(14-9)		              
      Score: 66-48              
    Okanogan
(13-9)		                  

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Okanogan 74, Cashmere 29
Game 1.
At Okanogan, WA

Julie Moore had 27 points, shooting 12-for-14 from the field and 3-for-3 from the line, to power Okanogan to the North Central District A opening-round win.
Okanogan (17-4), the third seed from the Caribou Trail League, shot 63 percent (31 of 49) from the field en route to its fifth straight win. Okanogan advances to play at Liberty Bell on Friday, while Cashmere (9-12) will play a loser-out game Tuesday.
Okanogan's Hillary Merkley had 15 points and eight assists, Jennette Goldmark made six steals and four assists and Jocelyn Merkley grabbed eight rebounds. Moore added seven blocks.
"It wasn't just Julie or Hillary, the other kids stepped it up," Okanogan coach Michelle Ferenz said. "They sagged in on Julie and the kids hit the shot on the perimeter. If you're Cashmere, what do you do?"
Gina Smith's seven points led Cashmere, which shot 8-for-41 from the field.

Cashmere (29) - D. Ryan 2, Smith 7, Gallagher, Peterson 4, Kennedy, Pipkin 5, Cordell 2, Murphy, Caillier 2, Lowers 2, Nichols 5, K. Ryan. Totals 8-41 12-24 29.
Okanogan (74) - H. Merkley 15, Goldmark 6, Mitzner, Clinkenbeard 8, Moore 27, Swartsel 2, J. Merkley 8, Timm 2, Rogers 6. Totals 31-49 11-12 74.
Cashmere

------------

 6 12 14 29
Okanogan

------------

 23 35 50 74

 ***************************************************************************

Omak 65, Quincy 60
Game 2.
At Quincy, WA

Krissy Range had 22 points and Tauni Lisenbey added 13 to help the fifth-seeded Pioneers beat No. 4 Quincy in the North Central District A opening round.
Omak (11-10) avenged a pair of CTL losses to Quincy. The Pioneers play in Friday's winner's bracket at top-seeded Cascade, while Quincy (13-8) plays a loser-out game Tuesday.
Quincy was without starter Sherry Garcia (bronchitis) and lost Chelsie Pitt to a first-half knee injury. Pitt's eight first-half points lifted Quincy to a 33-30 halftime lead.
"I was impressed with Range. She did a good job on the inside," Quincy coach Mike Haerling said. "But we didn't make our free throws (9-for-18) or play that in-your-face defense that you have to against a team like that. They had their open shots and they made them."
Quincy's Krystal Bowman had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Summer McCreary had four 3-pointers to total 15 points, Jennie Haerling netted 11 points and Heather Doncaster had eight rebounds.

Omak (65) - Lisenbey 13, Taylor 8, Lay 4, J. McCormack 5, Range 22, Short, S. McCormack 9, Pearson, Al. Howard 2, An. Howard 2. Totals 24-50 14-26 65.
Quincy (60) - McCreary 15, Haerling 11, Pitt 8, Bowman 19, Doncaster 2, Laffranchi, Woods 5. Totals 23-59 9-18 FT.
Omak ------------ 16 30 47 65
Quincy ------------ 15 33 42 60

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Liberty Bell 60, Okanogan 59 (OT)
Game 3.
At Twisp, WA

Lynn Brown hit a 10-foot jump shot with 10 seconds left in regulation to force the overtime, then scored on a short jump shot with three seconds remaining in the extra period to give the Mountain Lions (14-7) the North Central District A victory.
Brown scored a game-high 26 points and added seven assists and five steals as Liberty Bell advanced to the district championship game. Teammates Jennifer Paluck and Sarah Tribolet added 15 points apiece.
"We got ahead, they got ahead ... it was really something," said Liberty Bell coach Mike Bourn.
Trailing by six points, the Mountain Lions appeared in trouble when Paluck, a 5-foot-10 freshman, fouled out with 4:49 remaining in the fourth quarter.
"I thought we were curtains," Bourn said. "I'm so proud of these girls. They really had a lot of chances to quit but they didn't."
Liberty Bell rallied from a four-point deficit in the final two minutes of regulation and also in overtime, led by Tribolet and Brown.
Julie Moore paced Okanogan (17-5) with 13 points before fouling out in overtime.

Okanogan (59) - H. Merkley 9, Goldmark 9, J. Merkley 12, Mitzner 6, Clinkenbeard 10, Moore 13, Timm, Rogers.
Liberty Bell (60) - Tribolet 15, Brown 26, Bourn 2, Paluck 15, Mountjoy 2, Wilson, Hawkins, Bradshaw.
Okanogan 18 26 43 53 59
Liberty Bell 13 27 34 53 60

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Omak 68, Cascade-Leavenworth 60
Game 4.
At Leavenworth, WA 

As Cascade girls' basketball coach Mike Lewis watched his top-ranked Kodiaks take a seven-point lead over Omak in the third quarter, he had hopes of averting an upset Friday night.
Omak's Krissy Range and her Pioneer teammates had other ideas, however.
Range had 33 points to help the visiting Pioneers claim a 68-60 victory over Cascade (20-1) in the second round of the North Central District A tournament.
Omak, the defending district champions, entered the tourney as the fifth seed. The Pioneers (12-10) are 5-2 under new coach Bryan Behymer, who took over Jan. 24 when Scott Culbertson resigned.
The Pioneers are scheduled to host Liberty Bell at 8 p.m. Friday at Omak High in the district championship game. Cascade hosts a loser-out game with Cashmere at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Range helped Omak to a 41-30 rebounding edge and also shot 13-for-14 at the free-throw line. Omak sank 25 of 32 free throws, while Cascade made just 10 of 18.
"They played a patient game and got the ball to Krissy," Lewis said. "When we got the seven-point lead in the third quarter, they came back on us and kept us from running away.
"We were trying to catch up in the fourth quarter. You can't take anything away from them. They played a good game and we were a little bit cold from the field tonight."
Omak's Jill McCormack had 11 points and reserves Shae McCormack and Becky Short combined for 15 points.
For Cascade, Megan Franza scored 20 points, Emilie Moreshead had 12 points and Lyndy Burgess added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Omak (68) - Lisenbey 3, Taylor 2, J. McCormack 11, Al. Howard 2, Range 33 (13-14 FT, 10 baskets), Short 7, S. McCormack 8, Lay, Pearson 2, An. Howard. Totals 21-40 25-32 68.
Cascade (60) - Gransbury 6, M. Franza 20, McGregor 7, Moreshead 12, Burgess 11, B. Franza 2, Darlington 2, Geske. Totals 24-64 10-18 60.
Omak ------------ 12 30 47 68
Cascade ------------ 12 28 48 60

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Cascade-Leavenworth 67, Cashmere 46
Game 5. (Loser out)
At Leavenworth, WA

Now, coach Mike Lewis says, the Cascade girls' basketball team has something to prove.
The Kodiaks rebounded from their first loss of the season to defeat Cashmere 67-46 Tuesday night in a North Central District A tournament game at Leavenworth.
"We all went through the shock and the not believing it happened to the point that the kids still want to prove something," Lewis said, referring to last Friday's 68-60 defeat to Omak. "They want to come out and show people they can still play."
Emilie Moreshead scored 14 of her 18 points in the first half as the Kodiaks (21-1 overall) took a 32-21 lead.
Megan Franza scored a game-high 22 points for Cascade, which is scheduled to play Okanogan, 6:30 p.m. Friday at Omak, in another loser-out game.
"It feels good to be able to play on Friday," Lewis said.
Dana Ryan scored 13 points to lead Cashmere, which finished its season with a 9-13 record.

Cashmere (46) - D. Ryan 13, Smith 6, Gallagher 2, Peterson 12, Kennedy 4, Pipkin, Cordell, Murphy 2, Caillier 2, Lowers 4, Nichols 1, K. Ryan.
Cascade (67) - Gransbury 2, M. Franza 22, McGregor 12, Moreshead 18, Burgess 6, B. Franza 2, Darlington, Davies, Fender, Roche, Geske, Stirling 5.
Cashmere

------------

 10 21 35 46
Cascade

------------

 16 32 52 67

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Okanogan 66, Quincy 48
Game 6. (Loser out)
At Okanogan, WA

Julie Moore scored 11 of her 17 points in the first half as the Bulldogs took a 30-17 lead in the loser-out game.
Hillary Merkley had a game-high 20 points for Okanogan (16-7), which shot 60 percent (27 of 45) from the field, while limiting Quincy to 22.1 percent (17 of 77).
Okanogan closed the first half with a 21-11 run to take control.
"We played pretty well, but we'll have to play pretty well Friday to keep going, though," said Okanogan coach Michelle Ferenz, whose team faces Cascade next.
Krystal Bowman scored 15 points to lead Quincy, which finished its season with a 13-9 record.

Quincy (48) - McCreary 4, Haerling 8, Pitt 12, Garcia 4, Bowman 15, Bierlink, Laffranchi, Woods 3, Doncaster 2.
Okanogan (66) - H. Merkley 20, Goldmark 4, Mitzner 2, Clinkenbeard 10, Moore 17, Swartsel 2, J. Merkley 6, Timm 1, Rogers 4.
Quincy ------------ 6 17 27 48
Okanogan ------------ 11 30 46 66

***************************************************************************

Cascade-Leavenworth 54, Okanogan 39
Game 7.
At Omak, WA

Megan Franza scored 10 of her team-high 23 points in the third quarter, including two treys, as the Kodiaks outscored Okanogan 18-8 to pull away in the loser-out game.
Franza added seven rebounds and four steals as Cascade (22-1) advanced to meet Liberty Bell for the district's final berth to state.
"We mixed up our defenses between man and zone," Cascade coach Mike Lewis said. "We made an adjustment in the third quarter into zone and slowed their game down a little."
Julie Moore scored a game-high 28 points for Okanogan, which finished its season with a 16-8 record. Teammate Hillary Merkley, averaging 14.7 points per game in district play, was limited to just two points by Cascade.
"If you shut down one of those two, you feel like you have the battle half won," Lewis said. "The biggest difference was our kids wanted to play defense and show they're not out of this thing."

Cascade (54) - Gransbury 6, M. Franza 23, McGregor 10, Moreshead 6, Burgess 7, B. Franza 2, Darlington, Davies, Fender, Roche, Geske, Stirling.
Okanogan (39) - H. Merkley 2, Goldmark 5, Mitzner 2, Clinkenbeard, Moore 28, J. Merkley 2, Rogers.
Cascade ------------ 10 23 41 54
Okanogan ------------ 10 21 29 39

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Omak 47, Liberty Bell 46
Game 8. (Championship, winner to state)
At Omak, WA

When he took over as Omak's head coach Jan. 24, winning the North Central District A girls' basketball championship wasn't even on Bryan Behymer's mind.
"I just hoped to bring the kids together and play as a team," Behymer said.
That process continued Friday night as the Pioneers topped Liberty Bell 47-46 at Omak High to win the district championship and earn the top berth to the Class A state tournament.
Sophomore Krissy Range hit a 14-foot jump shot from inside the lane with less than a minute remaining, giving the Pioneers (13-10 overall) the victory. Range had team-high totals of 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Omak freshman Amanda Taylor, who scored 10 points, took a charge from Liberty Bell's Lynn Brown with 20 seconds left to help seal the victory.
"Defensively she's just of those gutty kids that get up there and get after it," Behymer said of Taylor. "We put on her (Quincy's Krystal) Bowman when we won. She's just really tenacious on defense."
Brown scored 20 points, but the Pioneers - using a box-and-one defense - limited Liberty Bell freshman Jennifer Paluck to nine points, the first time she failed to score in double digits in the past seven games.
"That's what I've used since I took over. I don't know why it's working, but it is," Behymer said. "It's just one of those junk defenses I've picked up and it's been successful."
Jill McCormack added three 3-pointers for Omak and freshman Shae McCormack had a key trey in the fourth quarter.
Liberty Bell (14-8) was scheduled to play Cascade, 4 p.m. Saturday at Wenatchee High, for the district's second and final berth to state.

Omak (47) - Lisenbey 2, Taylor 10, J. McCormack 9, Al. Howard 6, Range 13, Short, Pearson, An. Howard, S. McCormack 7.
Liberty Bell (46) - Bradshaw 2, Tribolet, Brown 20, Br. Bourn 12, Paluck 9, Hawkins, Liebl, Be. Bourn, Nickell, Wilson, Maples, Mountjoy 3.
Omak 14 30 40 47
Liberty Bell 16 31 42 46

***************************************************************************

Cascade-Leavenworth 65, Liberty Bell 59
Game 9. (Winner to state, loser out)
At Wenatchee, WA

Since Omak is the North Central District's No. 1 representative to the girls' Class A state tournament and Cascade is No. 2, there's only one appropriate way to catalog Liberty Bell:
2A.
It was that close.
Unfortunately for the Mountain Lions, only two teams advance. And, thanks to some critical late-game passing by Megan Franza and a pair of clinching free throws by Becky Gransbury, Cascade became the second on Saturday night with a 65-59 victory over the Mountain Lions.
"I was very nervous," Franza said of the frantic final 10 minutes that saw Liberty Bell rally twice from 11-point deficits, finally pulling to within two points, 61-59, with 1:43 to go on a 3-pointer by Brooke Bourn.
"This has been our total goal all year," said Franza, whose game-high 26 points may not have been as critical as her assists on the Kodiaks' final three baskets. "We've been talking about it every day since before basketball practice started."
With 23 seconds left, after the second of two Franza-to-Emilie Moreshead scoring plays, the Kodiaks (23-1 overall) had a 63-59 lead and Gransbury at the foul line for a one-and-one. The senior guard hadn't taken a foul shot all game; she'd missed all three of her shots from the field.
But Kodiaks coach Mike Lewis wasn't worried.
"I've got all the confidence in the world in her," he said. "She's a senior and we look to her for that leadership. When it comes to crunch time, she's going to be there."
"I was just thinking, I can't panic," Gransbury said. "I had to relax, because two extra points could mean the difference at the other end of the court."
As it turned out, all they did was clinch it - and end the season for the Mountain Lions (14-9), who had had to overcome the full-game absence of Sarah Tribolet (injured knee on Friday) and the late-game absence of center Stephanie Mountjoy (fouled out with 6:48 remaining).
After Franza's 18 second-quarter points gave Cascade a 42-31 halftime lead, Liberty Bell's 4-foot-11 point guard, Sarah Bradshaw, sparked the Lions' first rally. She scored two baskets, came up with a steal and assisted on two more scores in a 10-1 Liberty Bell run.
Cascade responded with nine straight points - four by sophomore Marni McGregor, who scored in double figures (12 points) for the third straight game. The Kodiaks were also getting a solid performance from junior center Lyndy Burgess (13 points, 14 rebounds).
The Mountain Lions rallied a second time as Lynn Brown and Bourn - who would finish with 25 and 12 points, respectively - combined for 16 points in an 18-9 run. The team's other two points came from Jennifer Paluck, who totaled 16 points and 12 rebounds.
But it wasn't enough.
"It could have gone either way," said Liberty Bell coach Mike Bourn. "We feel this is a good foundation game for next year. We peaked at the end of the season, and we may not have deserved to go to state after last night (a 47-46 district title loss to Omak) - we didn't play hard last night and we didn't deserve to win that game."
Still, the Lions came within a controversial late-game charging foul against Brown on Friday, and then had their not-quite-there comeback Saturday of going to state.
"I hope Omak does real well at state," Bourn said. "I hope Cascade does real well. We're going to go over there and cheer them on."
When you're 2A, that's all that's left.

Liberty Bell (59) - Br. Bourn 12, Paluck 16, Brown 25, Bradshaw 4, Mountjoy, Nickell, Wilson 2, Liebl, Hawkins, Maples. Totals 27-64 3-10 59.
Cascade (65) - M. Franza 26, Burgess 13, Moreshead 8, Gransbury 2, McGregor 12, B. Franza 2, Geske, Darlington. Totals 25-62 12-21 65.
Liberty Bell

------------

 15 31 41 59
Cascade

------------

 18 42 52 65
3-point goals-Liberty Bell 2-9 (Br. Bourn 2), Cascade 3-7 (Franza 3).
Rebounds-Liberty Bell 38 (Paluck 12), Cascade 46 (Burgess 14).
Total fouls-Liberty Bell 17 (Mountjoy), Cascade 16.
Turnovers-Liberty Bell 15, Cascade 15.

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Tournament Scoring Leaders
Player Team Total Points Games Played Average
Lynn Brown Liberty Bell 71 3 23.7
Megan Franza Cascade 91 4 22.8
Krissy Range Omak 68 3 22.7
Julie Moore Okanogan 85 4 21.3
Krystal Bowman Quincy 34 2 17.0
Jennifer Paluck Liberty Bell 40 3 13.3
Hilary Merkley Okanogan 46 4 11.5
Emilie Moreshead Cascade 44 4 11.0