39th Annual
North Central District "A"
Boys Basketball Tournament
1996

Champ

ionship

Febr

uary 22

Okan
(22

ogan
-1)

Score

: 70-68 (OT)

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Cashmere 59, Tonasket 51
Game 1.
At Cashmere, WA

The first half was a nervous time for Cashmere boys' basketball coach Miles Caples.
Watching his team shoot 7-for-24 (29 percent) from the field didn't instill a lot of confidence.
But No. 6-seed Tonasket's 29-23 halftime advantage was not enough of a difference to fend off defending Class A state champion Cashmere's second-half charge.
Cashmere, the third seed, battled back to claim a 59-51 win in the first-round North Central District A tournament game at Cashmere High.
Jake Kerns had 21 of his game-high 26 points while helping Cashmere outscore Tonasket 36-22 in the second half of the first-round game.
Cashmere shot 13-for-22 from the field (59 percent) in the second half.
"The big key was we turned up our intensity level defensively, and offensively we turned up that aggressiveness," Cashmere coach Miles Caples said.
Cashmere shot 17-for-23 at the foul line. The Bulldogs broke a 40-40 tie after three quarters, building up an 11-point lead in the final seconds.
For Tonasket, Seth Gibeaut scored 17 points and Todd Jorgenson added 13.
Cashmere is scheduled to play at Chelan and Cascade will play at Okanogan in Friday's winner's bracket pairings of the double-elimination tourney.
In Friday's loser-out games, Liberty Bell is scheduled to play at Tonasket and Omak hosts Lake Roosevelt.

Tonasket (11-10) - Gibeaut 17, Jorgenson 13, Jones 8, Pile 8, Hendrick 3, Call 2, Coe.

Cashmere (14-7) - Kerns 26, Green 11, Banks 6, Stendera 4, Smith 4, Stutzman 2, Darling, Crossland 6.

Tonasket	------------	14	29	40	51
Cashmere	------------	7	23	40	59

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Chelan 64, Liberty Bell 45
Game 2.
At Chelan, WA

At Chelan, the Goats jumped out to an 11-point lead and maintained a double-digit advantage until the final period, when Steve Parsley hit a pair of three-pointers to seal the win.
For Chelan Eric Boyd had 22 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Jeff Carlson had 10 points and six rebounds. Sy Bannick scored 10 points for Liberty Bell.

Liberty Bell (8-13) - Surface 3, Bannick 10, Smith 2, Behrens 6, Lathrop 8, Fasse 6, Larson 4, Remsberg 6, Northcott, Burkhart.

Chelan (19-3) -  Parsley 6, Nickell 7, Boyd 22, Cullen 2, Carlson 20, Dobbs 7, Henderson, Cooper, Rodriguez, Johnson.

Liberty Bell	------------	6	20	30	45
Chelan	------------	15	30	42	64

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Cascade-Leavenworth 66, Omak 54
Game 3.
At Chelan, WA

At Chelan, Ryan Hansen scored 33 points on 13-for-24 shooting from the field, including 4-for-6 from 3-point territory, and also had five assists and six rebounds as the Kodiaks won the first-round district game.
The Kodiaks shot 26-for-53 as a team, significantly better than Omak's 22-for-67 (33 percent). David Rusk scored 18 for Omak.
"We missed a bazillion lay-ins, and I'm not kidding," Omak coach Rocky Verbeck said. "We were getting good shots, too - we couldn't have gotten any closer unless we were dunking."

Cascade (13-9) - Hansen 33, Rieke 2, McGregor, West, Klump 4, Darlington 8, Warren, Ballew 9, Anderson 8, Piestrup 2.

Omak (13-9) - Matt, Barker 10, Ervin 8, Monahan 3, Ayers 3, Sackman 5, Colomb 7, Rusk 18, Beetchenow, Utigard, Abshire.

Cascade	------------	12	29	47	66
Omak	------------	9	22	34	54

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Okanogan 76, Lake Roosevelt 52
Game 4.
At Okanogan, WA

Ryan Lafferty scored 20 points and joined Anthony Popelier with three steals each to propel the third-ranked Bulldogs to victory.
Okanogan's Mikel Ward had 17 points and 13 rebounds, Darin Radke had 17 points and Jordan Lesamiz added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Okanogan coach Chris Ferenz lauded the play of reserve Aaron Gibson, who made four assists in nine minutes.
For Lake Roosevelt, Brian Darnold had 14 points and Jeremiah Wippel added 11.

Lake Roosevelt (5-16) - Picard 2, B. Darnold 14, Nissen 9, Fields 3, Wippel 11, S. Darnold 7, Johnson 1, Albert, Davis 2, Hearne 3, Valdez.

Okanogan (20-1) - Lafferty 20, A. Popelier 2, Lesamiz 10, Radke 17, Ward 17, N. Popelier 4, Goroch 4, Lane, Horner, Shiflett 2, Gibson.

Lake Roosevelt	------------	13	19	36	52
Okanogan	------------	22	36	54	76

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Tonasket 56, Liberty Bell 41
Game 5. (Loser out)
At Tonasket, WA

Seth Gibeaut had 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists to propel the Tigers to the loser-out win.
Liberty Bell cut a 14-point deficit to six points with 61/2 minutes left, but Tonasket closed with a 15-6 run.
Tonasket coach Jay Hawkins lauded the defense of Kevin Pile, who totaled 12 points and eight steals.
``It's been a long time since I've seen one of my kids put out the kind of defense like that,'' Hawkins said.
For Liberty Bell, Travis Smith had 18 points.

Liberty Bell (8-14) - Surface 4, Bannick, Smith 18, Behrens 4, Lathrop 9, Northcott, Burkhart, Fasse, Larson 3, Townsend, Remsberg 3.

Tonasket (12-10) - Jones 4, Jorgenson 8, Pile 12, Gibeaut 22, Hendrick 8, Call, Coe, Oberg, Gomez, Hotchkiss, Hauff 2, Thompson.

Liberty Bell	------------	11	16	30	41
Tonasket	------------	11	20	39	56

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Omak 93, Lake Roosevelt 57
Game 6. (Loser out)
At Omak, WA

David Rusk had 25 points and eight rebounds for Omak and Nick Sackman totaled 23 points and 10 rebounds to help the Pioneers win the loser-out game.
Omak surged to a 21-7 first-quarter lead.
``Defensively, Joe Ayers and Nick Sackman got it going,'' Omak coach Rocky Verbeck said. ``It was one of those nights where everyone put their hands up and made deflections.''
For Lake Roosevelt, Richard Picard netted 17 points and Jeremiah Wippel had 14.

Lake Roosevelt (6-16) - Picard 17, S. Darnold 4, B. Darnold 3, Moon, Nissen 11, Johnson, Albert 4, Fields 1, Davis 1, Hearne, Wippel 14, Valdez 2.

Omak (14-9) - Matt 4, Barker 7, Ervin 5, Monahan 2, Ayers 6, Sackman 23, Colomb 5, Rusk 25, Coffey 4, Beetchenow 10, Utigard 2.

Lake Roosevelt	------------	7	30	41	57
Omak	------------	21	42	63	93

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Cashmere 64, Chelan 58
Game 7. (semifinal)
At Chelan, WA

It was the type of first half Chelan boys' basketball coach Joe Harris didn't expect.
But thanks to Cashmere's Jordan Green and Jake Kerns, it was all too real for the Goats Friday night.
In the first quarter, Green had 11 points on 5-for-5 floor shooting and Kerns added seven points to help third-seeded Cashmere stake out a 15-point lead, as the Bulldogs beat second-seeded Chelan 64-58 in a North Central District A semifinal game at Chelan.
The win gave Cashmere _ the defending Class A state champion _ its third straight trip to the district championship.
Cashmere, which has won the district title two straight years, is scheduled to play Okanogan in the finals at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Omak.
In Tuesday's loser's bracket, Chelan is slated to host Omak and Cascade hosts Tonasket.
``They didn't do anything different than what they did in the first two games (both Chelan wins),'' Harris said. ``They just beat us to every loose ball; basically outworked our kids and shot well in the first half.
``The second half was a different story, but we were too far behind.''
Chelan fell behind 36-20 at halftime, but fought back to close within two twice in the final period. With Cashmere leading 61-58, Chelan sophomore Phil Cullen missed a 3-point attempt with 17 seconds left.
Green, who had 18 of his 21 points in the first half, made his final three points on four free-throw tries in the last 17 seconds to create the final margin.
Kerns led Cashmere with 22 points.
Chelan shot 8-for-30 (27 percent) from the field in the first half, while Cashmere shot 13-for-28.
Chelan's Cullen had 17 points and 12 rebounds, Eric Boyd had 16 points and Jeff Carlson had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Cashmere (15-7) - Banks 7, Stendera 6, Kerns 22, Crossland 1, Green 21, Stutzman 2, Long, King 4, Smith 1.

Chelan (19-4) - Parsley, Nickell 11, Boyd 16, Cullen 17, Carlson 14, Rogge, Dobbs, Cooper.

Cashmere		22	36	55	64
Chelan		8	20	43	58

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Okanogan 57, Cascade-Leavenworth 44
Game 8. (semifinal)
At Okanogan, WA

Mikel Ward had 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks to help Okanogan reach the district championship game for the first time since 1970.
The No. 3-ranked Bulldogs fell behind 8-3 in the first quarter, but rallied to take a 28-21 halftime lead.
Jordan Lesamiz had 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Okanogan. The Bulldogs, who shot 49.3 percent from the field in the regular season, shot 26-for-52 against Cascade.
``That (shooting 50 percent) was one of the goals the kids had,'' Okanogan coach Chris Ferenz said. ``They're right there.''
Cascade's Ryan Hansen scored a game-high 24 points. The senior extended his state all-time career boys' scoring record to 2,356 points.

Cascade (13-10) - Hansen 24, McGregor 7, Klump 4, Ballew 3, Piestrup 6, Darlington, Anderson.

Okanogan (21-1) - Lafferty 7, A. Popelier 3, Lesamiz 16, Radke 6, Ward 18, Goroch 3, Shiflett 4.

Cascade	------------	10	21	32	44
Okanogan	------------	9	28	41	57

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Cascade-Leavenworth 50, Tonasket 46
Game 9. (Loser out)
At Leavenworth, WA

Lance Ballew hit two free throws in the final seconds and Ryan Hansen hit one as Cascade edged Tonasket in a back-and-forth game.
The Kodiaks trailed by seven points in the second period before Ty McGregor's 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer cut the deficit to 28-24. Cascade then ran off the first 13 points of the second half ... only to see the Tigers pull back ahead by four in the fourth period.
"They were a patient group," Cascade coach Pat Fromm said of the Tigers. "They didn't get rattled when we made that run. Any time we'd make a mistake, they'd capitalize. I was impressed with the way they played."
He was especially impressed with Tonasket senior Seth Gibeaut, who scored 18 of his 21 points in the first half.
"Gibeaut went out a winner," Fromm said. "He really played well."
Kevin Pile also had a hand in Tonasket's early success, making all three of his first-half shots. The Tigers finished 20-for-42 from the field, while the Kodiaks were just 19-for-61.
Hansen finished with 28 points, bringing his state-record career total to 2,384.

Tonasket (12-11) - Jones 6, Jorgenson 2, Pile 6, Gibeaut 21, Hendrick 8, Call 3, Coe.

Cascade (14-10) - Hansen 28, McGregor 3, Klump 2, Ballew 7, Piestrup 5, Anderson 2, Darlington 3, Rieke.

Tonasket	------------	13	28	32	46
Cascade	------------	12	24	37	50

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Omak 69, Chelan 68
Game 10. (Loser out)
At Chelan, WA

David Rusk had already missed the first free throw.
Now the Chelan gymnasium was even louder as, with two seconds left in a tied game, Omak's 6-foot junior guard stepped the line for the second one with this at stake:
Make it and the Pioneer boys' basketball season goes on.
Miss it and maybe the Chelan Goats, who had already rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit, might end Omak's season in overtime.
Rusk shot and hit ...
... nothing but net.
The last of Rusk's game-high 24 points gave Omak a 69-68 victory, keeping the Pioneers alive in the North Central District A tournament.
Omak will play host to Cascade - a 50-46 winner over Tonasket - at 7 p.m. Thursday, with the winner to take on the loser of the Cashmere-Okanogan title game, also at Omak, for the second district berth into the Class A state tourney.
Over the past three years, Chelan has won 42 of 50 league games and built an overall record of 52-18. But the Goats will miss out on a state trip for the third straight year because they couldn't overcome their double-digit deficit.
"It was tough, especially when Eric Boyd fouled out," said Chelan coach Joe Harris, whose star senior had scored 17 points before picking up his fifth foul with three minutes remaining and the Goats trailing by 11.
"We could have folded our tents there, but these kids didn't give up. We've been coming back on people all year long, but ... we just ran out of comebacks."
The Goats rallied, and the second of Luke Dobbs' back-to-back 3-pointers forged a 68-68 tie. Chelan got the ball back with 16 seconds to go and opted to hold the ball for a final shot, but the shot rimmed out and Rusk was fouled in the scramble for the rebound.
Omak built its lead behind Rusk's hot shooting and that of Josh Ervin, who made eight of his 11 field goal attempts and finished with 17 points. Nick Sackman added 12 points for the Pioneers.
Jeff Carlson and Phil Cullen had 18 and 13 points, respectively, for Chelan.

Omak (15-9) — Barker 5, Ervin 17, Ayers 6, Sackman 12, Rusk 24, Colomb 5, Beetchenow, Coffee.

Chelan (19-5) — Parsley 7, Nickell 5, Boyd 17, Cullen 13, Carlson 18, Rogge, Johnson, Dobbs 8, Cooper.

Omak	------------	20	41	56	69
Chelan	------------	11	28	49	68

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Omak 51, Cascade-Leavenworth 50
Game 11. (Loser out)
At Omak, WA

The pass that Nick Sackman caught and turned into his game-winning shot was actually intended for David Rusk, who already had a team-high 18 points.
But the clock was running down and Sackman wasn't taking any chances. "David was supposed to get it, but I was open," said Sackman. "Not the way it was planned, but it worked. Hey, whatever it takes."
That has been a Pioneer theme since they lost by 12 points to Cascade in the district tournament opener. On this night, it took keeping Kodiak star Ryan Hansen in check - 27 points, nearly six points below his season average. And it took playing under control in the tension inherent in critical playoff games - the kind of games Omak isn't used to.
"It's been a long time since we've been winning district games," Omak coach Rocky Verbeck said. "This is a great bunch of kids - I'm really excited for them. There's still one game to go, but these guys deserved a chance to play for state. Cascade played tough, though - every time we made a run, they kept coming back."
Most of that coming-back was Hansen, who finished his career as the most prolific scorer in Washington prep basketball history with 2,411 points. Hansen scored 14 points over the last 10 minutes, including a pair of free throws with 45 seconds left that gave Cascade - down by six just 21/2 minutes earlier - a 50-49 lead.
But Sackman had the last word.

Cascade (14-11) - Hansen 27, McGregor 6, Klump 3, Ballew 4, Piestrup 8, Anderson 2, Rieke, Darlington. Totals 21-44 5-6 50.

Omak (16-9) - Rusk 18, Sackman 11, Ayers 8, Ervin 8, Barker 4, Colomb 2, Beetchenow, Matt. Totals 23-44 5-9 51.

Cascade	------------	11	23	37	50
Omak	------------	12	28	38	51

Stats: 3-point goals- Cascade 3-13 (Hansen 3), Omak 0-2. Rebounds- Cascade 21 (Hansen 5), Omak 24 (Rusk 6). Turnovers- Cascade 12, Omak 12.

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Okanogan 70, Cashmere 68 (OT)
Game 12. (Championship, winner to state)
At Omak, WA

On a night of championships and big shots, the biggest shot of all, the championship shot, the last-second shot in overtime ... wasn't.
A shot, that is.
More like a shot put.
Launched from somewhere inside a hurricane.
Said the young man who launched it: "I just kind of flung it toward the hoop."
That was Okanogan senior guard Ryan Lafferty, whose buzzer-beating, tie-breaking tip-in Thursday gave the Bulldogs an overtime 70-68 victory over Cashmere that gave them the North Central District A championship and their first state-tournament berth since the spring of 1970.
And it came from within such a maelstrom of flailing arms that the official scorer credited the basket to the owner of another one of those arms, Okanogan forward Darin Radke.
"I touched it, but I think it was actually more the other guy (Lafferty)," Radke said. "If he didn't get it, I would have."
But indeed it was Lafferty, who had just taken what was to be the final shot of the game, a 14-footer from within a crowd just inside the foul line. He knew before anyone else did - in the instant he shot - that he had missed.
"I saw it was going to be short," said Lafferty, who followed his shot and was the first to get a hand on the ball when it caromed off to the left side of the lane. "I knew I had to get it back up before the buzzer, and I just tried to push it toward the basket."
The ball went in ... the buzzer sounded ... and the Cashmere Bulldogs, who had rallied from five points down in OT to take a brief lead in the final minute, found themselves still one victory away from a return trip to Tacoma and a chance to defend their 1995 state championship.
Cashmere will play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Wenatchee against the Omak Pioneers, who ousted Cascade 51-50 on Nick Sackman's 15-foot shot with five seconds remaining.
And as far as the Okanogan guys were concerned, Omak had better come prepared.
"That was a wild game," Radke said. "You gotta give Cashmere credit - they're a great team. They took a lot of stuff away from us that we normally do against just about anybody."
Okanogan coach Chris Ferenz echoed that sentiment. "Miles Caples, Cashmere coach) has done a great job with those guys. They had a lot of inexperienced kids at the beginning of the year, and I'll tell you, they looked like a veteran ball club tonight."
Okanogan (22-1) had rolled through an unbeaten Caribou Trail League season, but Cashmere had taken Ferenz's squad into overtime Jan. 12 and, on Thursday, went toe-to-toe with the regular-season champs.
The lead changed hands a dozen times. The score was tied 11 times, including 54-54 at the end of regulation, a deadlock produced when Radke's banked eight-footer made it 54-52 with 35 seconds left and Cashmere's Jordan Green answered five seconds later with a pair of free throws. Okanogan forward Jordan Lesamiz missed a 15-footer at the buzzer, resulting in the overtime.
Okanogan scored the first five points of OT, thanks to back-to-back steals by Lafferty and Anthony Popelier. During that span, Cashmere lost its two prominent inside players - Jake Kerns (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Spencer Crossland (8 points) - with fifth fouls.
"You take away our two big kids, Jake and Spencer, and that makes it tough," Caples said. "But that's a credit to our kids, they just kept hanging in there."
They did more than that. A three-pointer by Green cut the margin to two and, after 6-9 Okanogan reserve Matt Shiflett scored two of his 14 points, Cashmere came back on baskets by Nick Stutzman and Josh King to knot the score at 65-65. Then it was back-and-forth - a Lafferty free throw ... two King free throws ... a Shiflett putback ... and Green's tying foul shot with 12 seconds left.
By this time, three Okanogan players - Lesamiz, Shiflett and center Mikel Ward - had fouled out. "I thought it was going to be a battle of second-stringers for a while there," Lafferty said.
Nope. The last two of Lafferty's 21 points ended that ... even if he didn't get credit for it.
"Maybe," Ferenz said, "we can make it a team basket. Maybe put it in the boxscore that way: Team 2."

Cashmere (15-8) - Green 14, Crossland 8, Kerns 18, Stendera 5, Banks 9, Stutzman 6, King 6, Long 2. Totals 24-55 12-17 68.

Okanogan (22-1) - Lafferty 21, Ward 11, Lesamiz 9, A. Popelier 8, Radke 2, Goroch 3, Shiflett 14, Lane 2. Totals 27-61 13-23 70.

Cashmere	14	21	37	54	68
Okanogan	13	25	39	54	70

Stats: 3-point goals- Cashmere 8-12 (Kerns 4, Green 3, Stendera), Okanogan 3-14 (Lafferty 3). Rebounds- Cashmere 36 (Kerns 10), Okanogan 40 (Ward 8, Shiflett 7). Turnovers- Cashmere 19, Okanogan 20. Fouled out- Crossland, Kerns, Ward, Lesamiz, Shiflett.

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Omak 78, Cashmere 74
Game 13. (Winner to state, loser out)
At Wenatchee, WA

For the Omak boys, the Pioneers' first Class A state berth since 1973 (the '74 team placed fourth in Class AA) grew out of years of playing together, all those hot July evenings in sweltering gymnasiums in AAU summer leagues. Always the same kids playing together, year after year. "About four or five of us," senior guard Beau Barker said, "have been playing together forever."
And after the Pioneers had knocked off defending state champion Cashmere 78-74 to join rival Okanogan in the 16-team boys' state draw, Barker wrapped his arms around junior teammate David Rusk.
"Hey, man," Barker said with a grin. "All those years of summer ball finally paid off."
And the team that has played together "forever" isn't through yet.
But the Bulldogs - playing without starting guard Aaron Sparks, suspended from the team for a rules violation - didn't respond as well as the Pioneers to the physical play.
"The difference was physicalness," Cashmere coach Miles Caples said. "Our kids are young sophomores for the most part. The strength factor - the pushing and shoving inside - when it's allowed, our guys aren't ready to do that. (The Pioneers) got 25 offensive rebounds. They're stronger than we are."
Omak trailed 33-28 at halftime, but opened the third period with a 14-5 run, with Rusk and Nick Sackman accounting for nine of those. Joe Ayers triggered a seven-point run early in the fourth quarter with a basket and an assist, and the Pioneers were up by 10. Cashmere never got closer than three the rest of the way.
"With all those fouls, it took everybody on both sides out of their rhythm," Omak coach Rocky Verbeck said. "It was a tough game. Our kids are spent. I know it's a cliche, but it's too bad someone had to lose.
"I'm just glad it wasn't us."
Cashmere got yeoman efforts from Jordan Green (22 points), Spencer Crossland (17 points, 8 rebounds) and Jake Kerns (18 points). But it wasn't enough. So Omak's going to Tacoma, ending a 23-year drought.
"That's all we've been talking about," Rusk said. "This is our year. We're going to change the tradition in Omak."

Cashmere (15-9) - Green 22, Stendera 7, Kerns 18, Crossland 17, Banks 2, Stutzman 8, Long, King, Smith. Totals 25-50 20-27 74.

Omak (17-9) - Barker 10, Rusk 25, Sackman 15, Ervin 3, Ayers 12, Colomb 7, Abshire 2, Beetchenow 4. Totals 20-47 35-50 78.

Cashmere		17	33	50	74
Omak		15	28	54	78

Stats: 3-point goals- Cashmere 4-11 (Green 2, Kerns, Stutzman), Omak 3-13 (Rusk, Sackman, Colomb). Rebounds- Cashmere 26 (Crossland 8), Omak 31 (Rusk 8, Ervin 7). Turnovers- Cashmere 19, Omak 12. Fouls- Cashmere 30 (Kerns), Omak 21 (Ervin).

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