Cashmere 79, Brewster 57
Game 3.
At Cashmere, WA

Just five possessions into this game, four Cashmere players had scored to create an 11-4 lead. And they had scored in a variety of ways — inside baskets, medium-range jumpers and a 3-point shot.
“We knew we had to handle their press and we wanted to get the ball inside. Those were our keys,” Cashmere coach Miles Caples said.
The strategy unlocked a bundle of Cashmere baskets. The Bulldogs made 10-of-15 shots in the first quarter and kept rolling.
“When the coaches talked about going inside, I had to like that,” said Matt Darlington who finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds. “Our guards did a great job against their pressure and we had the edge inside.”
One of those guards was junior Tyler Green. While he was the smallest player on the court, the 5-foot-6 Green had a big impact. He produced that 3-pointer in Cashmere's early spurt plus a driving layup and hit a twisting jumper to finish off the first quarter. He finished with 13 points and seven assists.
“Tyler had a big game. He's been a real key for us,” Caples said. “At Chelan (a loss), when he picked up his fourth foul that really changed the game.”
Meanwhile, Brewster couldn't keep up despite hitting 50 percent of its shots in the first half (12-of-24). Bears' star guard Johnny Gebbers scored 13 points in the first half (19 in the game), but was limited to 19 shots from the field under the guard of Bulldogs Aaron Sparks and Kevin White.
Brewster center Mark Brown had eight points in the second quarter, finishing with 18 points and nine rebounds.
Cashmere had plenty of other big numbers. Spencer Crossland had four assists to go along with his 14 points. Jake Kerns finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.

Brewster (16-6) - J. Gebbers 19, Gurney, Brown 18, B. Boesel 6, D. Gebbers 4, Gunn 2, Shepard 2, Knowlton 2, Joseph, Ravenstien, Gamble. Totals 21-42 9-14 57.

Cashmere (16-5) - Crossland 14, Kerns 18, Darlington 20, Sparks 6, Green 13, White 4, Cockle 2, Secrist 2, Darling, Fletcher, Franklin. Totals 29-47 28-29 79.

Brewster	------------	12	29	40	57
Cashmere	------------	21	43	63	79

Stats: 3-point FG— Brewster 2-11 (D. Gebbers, B. Boesel), Cashmere 1-2 (Green). Turnovers— Brewster 11, Cashmere 11. Fouls— Brewster 23, Cashmere 16.

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Chelan 51, Liberty Bell 39
Game 4.
At Chelan, WA

The Goats used an 11-2 spurt in the third quarter to pull away from Liberty Bell as Lucas Dobbs had seven points — a 3-point shot plus two lay-ups. Ryan Waller assisted on one of the lay-ups to go along with one of his own .
“The third quarter has been good to us all year,” Chelan coach Joe Harris said. “The kids came out focused. We also did a better job of attacking their zone. They were plugging to stop Phil Cullen and we had to find a way to beat that.”
Transition baskets were part of the solution. The Goats used a trapping defense to create several second-half turnovers.
“We knew we hard to come out hard in the second half,” Waller said.
Chelan also had to find a way to slow down Liberty Bell's outside shooting. Lions' guard Chad Prewitt (appropriately wearing the number three) drained four 3-point shots in the first half. Liberty Bell made 5-of-9 treys in by intermission.
“We were doing what we wanted to in the first half with those threes,” Liberty Bell coach Rocky Kulsrud said. “In the second half they tried to take Chad away and our other guys didn't hit their shots.”
The Lions hit just 2-of-11 shots from 3-point range in the second half. Prewitt's last trey did help slice Chelan's lead to four points entering the fourth period.
Free throws kept Chelan ahead as Liberty Bell was forced to foul. The Goats made 13-of-19 foul shots in the fourth quarter.
“At the end we had to foul and they hit their free throws,” Kulsrud said. “Now we have get ready to play on Tuesday.”
Cullen led Chelan with 14 rebounds and five blocked shots. Waller also had four assists.
Jacob Burkhart led the Lions with nine rebounds.

Liberty Bell (15-7) - Northcott 6, Burkhart 4, T. Smith 6, Prewitt 17, J. Notaro 1, J. Smith 3, Wilson 2, Voip, Kulsrud, Ellis. Totals 13-37 6-10 39.

Chelan (21-1) - Miller 2, Johnson 5, Cullen 12, Dobbs 15, Waller 12, Rogge, Mitchell, Rush, Ju. Barnhart, Jesperson, Rodriguez, Je. Barnhart. Totals 12-37 22-28 51.

Liberty Bell	------------	9	19	27	39
Chelan	------------	10	20	31	51

Stats: 3-point FG— Liberty Bell 7-20 (Prewitt 5, Northcott, J. Smith), Chelan 5-11 (Dobbs 2, Waller 2, Cullen). Turnovers— Liberty Bell 11, Chelan 9. Total fouls— Liberty Bell 16, Chelan 14.

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Liberty Bell 62, Lake Roosevelt 61 (OT)
Game 5. (Loser out)
At Winthrop, WA

It took a wild play to end a wild overtime game in a North Central District 1A loser-out boys' basketball games on Tuesday.
Liberty Bell edged Lake Roosevelt 62-61 to play again. In the other district loser-out game, Brewster beat Okanogan 68-56.
That means Liberty Bell will face Brewster at 7 p.m. Friday in Omak for the third berth into the State 1A tourney.
The Lions playing on Friday seemed uncertain in the final seconds of overtime. The Raiders scored the first three points in the extra period before Liberty Bell started its comeback on two free throws by Joe Notaro.
With 18 seconds left, the Lions missed a shot and a scramble for the rebound ensued. Players from both teams were diving for the ball. Liberty Bell's Ryan Ellis finally retrieved the ball near the Raiders' free-throw line and threw a long pass to an open Jacob Burkhart for the game-winner with 11 seconds left.
Lake Roosevelt's final shot bounced off the rim before the buzzer.
“We were fortunate to win this game. It took a great play by Ryan (Ellis) for us to win,” Liberty Bell coach Rocky Kulsrud said. “Lake Roosevelt played an outstanding game. They were ready to play and we had a tough time after our loss to Chelan (on Saturday).”
The Lions owned a four-point lead at halftime bit it vanished when the Raiders' Kurt Weise scored 18 points in the second half.
The play of reserves Ellis and Joe Smith kept Liberty Bell in the game. The two combined for 14 points and plenty of energy.
“Both of those guys really hustled and gave us sparks off the bench,” Kulsrud said. “We needed somebody to come through since Wiese was hitting all those shots for them.”
Travis Smith led Liberty Bell with 12 points and eight rebounds. Burkhart also had 12 points.
Jeremy Day scored 13 points for the Raiders.

Lake Roosevelt (10-12) - Darnold 10, Day 13, Wiese 18, Charley 4, Plumb 11, Ordway 3, Mitchell 2, Beagle, Bush.

Liberty Bell (16-7) - Prewitt 8, J. Notaro 6, Burkhart 12, T Smith 12, M. Nataro 10, J. Smith 6, Ellis 8, Reynaud, Voip.

Lake Roosevelt	16	24	45	58	61
Liberty Bell	16	28	46	58	62

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Brewster 68, Okanogan 56
Game 6. (Loser out)
At Brewster, WA

Brice Boesel's 17 points led a balanced scoring attack for the Bears.
Cody Gunn added 16 points, Johnny Gebbers 15, and Mark Brown 14.
Brewster opened a double-digit lead before Okanogan rallied, cutting the Bears' lead to one point in the fourth quarter.
“They scored a lot of points from our turnovers,” said Brewster coach Tim Taylor.
Brewster had 21 turnovers with the Bulldogs converting them into 16 points. Gebbers helped the Bears regain control by scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter. Free throw shooting (20-of-25) also helped Brewster prevail.
For Okanogan, Ryan Vance had 20 points and five steals. Sol Horner added 13 points and six steals.
Both Brown and Gebbers had six rebounds each. Brice Boesel also had five steals.

Okanogan (8-14) - Goldmark 5, Spaet 4, A. Goroch, J. Goroch 6, Nicholas, Townsend 6, Vance 20, Horner 13, Carlton 2, Shiflett.

Brewster (17-6) - Gunn 16, D. Gebbers 3, B. Boesel 17, J. Gebbers 15, D. Boesel 3, Gurney, Brown 14, Shepard.

Okanogan	------------	12	24	38	56
Brewster	------------	11	31	42	68

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Liberty Bell 77, Brewster 71
Game 7. (Winner to state, loser out)
At Omak, WA

Don't call the Liberty Bell boys' basketball team glitzy or glamorous. The Lions prefer the label of grunts — a team that gets the job done even if it takes overtime.
Also, don't call them at home next week, since they won't be in the Methow Valley. Instead, they'll be in the Tacoma Dome at the State 1A tourney — the first boys' team to qualify in the school's Class A history.
The Lions rallied to beat Brewster 77-71 in the North Central District consolation final on Friday. The win came after two overtime victories in earlier district games.
Since the Twisp and Winthrop school districts combined, the only Liberty Bell boys' team to make it to state was the 1983-1984 squad which played in the State B tourney at Spokane. Twisp went only once, in 1972, and Winthrop made four State B trips, the last one in 1963.
“This is a team that just goes out and works hard every game,” Liberty Bell coach Rocky Kulsrud said. “To put it in military terms, they're grunts. They just don't give up. Our senior leadership has a lot to do with that.”
A key sequence with 49 seconds left was a good example. The Lions missed a free throw, but in the ensuing scramble center Travis Smith grabbed the ball and banked it in for a four-point lead.
“That was just a tapped ball, we were battling for it and luckily we came up with it,” Smith said. “Playing those overtime games really helped us. It prepared us for another close game.”
Brewster coach Tim Taylor also expected a close game, but a better defensive effort by the Bears.
“In the second half, there we times they scored at will and times we scored at will,” Taylor said. “We didn't have our best defensive effort in this game. Liberty Bell deserves to go.”
Brewster was attempting to advance to state with just one senior on its roster.
“It would have been nice to make the trip this year (to state) to get a taste of it,” Taylor said.
Instead, the Bears had a taste of how Liberty Bell's offense could heat up in a hurry. The Lions closed out the first half with a 21-10 spurt to take the lead. That included 10 points by Kyle Northcott and a 3-pointer by Chad Prewitt just before the halftime buzzer.
Prewitt got hot again at the end of the third quarter, draining treys on consecutive possessions. His second 3 came with two seconds left in the period.
“We were getting the ball inside to Travis and that opened up our outside shots,” Prewitt said. “After losing to Chelan and that close game against Lake Roosevelt, we were kind of low. We practiced really hard and that gave us the confidence.”
Brewster was confident early in the fourth quarter. The Bears went on an 8-3 run which included five points by Johnny Gebbers and a layup by Dustin Boesel off a pass from Cody Gunn to take a 58-54 lead.
But it didn't last. Liberty Bell scored on eight of its next nine possessions, culminating with Smith's rebound basket. Northcott also had a rebound basket and layup in that sequence, and wound up leading the Lions with 22 points. Prewitt added 19 and Smith had 16.
Gunn led Brewster with 21 points, including nine in the third quarter. Johnny Gebbers added 20 points

Liberty Bell (17-7)— Northcott 22, Burkhart 8, T. Smith 16, Prewitt 19, J. Notaro 8, J. Smith 4, M. Notaro, Ellis, Reynaud. Totals 23-47 21-31 77.

Brewster (17-7)— J. Gebbers 20, Gurney, Brown 11, B. Boesel 7, D. Gebbers 5, Gunn 21, Shepard, Knowlton. Totals 29-58 6-9 71.

Liberty Bell	------------	13	38	52	77
Brewster	------------	15	29	50	71

Stats: 3-point FG— Liberty Bell 8-12 (Prewitt 5, T. Smith, Northcott, J. Smith), Brewster 6-13 (J. Gebbers 3, Gunn 2, D. Gebbers). Rebounds— Liberty Bell 31 (T. Smith 10, Burkhart 7), Brewster 31 (Brown 9, J. Gebbers 7). Fouls— Liberty Bell 14, Brewster 18 (B. Boesel). Turnovers—Liberty Bell 6, Brewster 5.

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Cashmere 38, Chelan 35
Game 8. (Championship, both to state)
At Omak, WA

Often games between rivals aren't pretty. The outcome can be satisfying though, if you're on the winning side.
Certainly a 17-14 halftime score doesn't create a pretty game but it did set up a Cashmere victory against rival Chelan, 38-35 in the North Central District 1A championship contest on Friday.
Both teams had already earned a trip to the state tourney in the Tacoma Dome starting on Wednesday. So, they were playing for medals and the right to cut down the net.
“We just love to go after each other,” said Cashmere forward Jake Kerns, the net still draped around his neck 20 minutes after helping cut it down. “Now that Cascade is out of our league, Chelan is our rival.”
The teams had finished the regular season against each other two weeks ago. Chelan won, beating the Bulldogs for the second time this season. During the first half, the two teams looked like they played two days ago.
“We both know each other really well and we were both able to take away what the other team wanted to do. There wasn't a whole lot of surprises,” Chelan coach Joe Harris said of the first half.
Cashmere had gained control primarily because of an 8-2 run early in the second quarter. Kerns created six of those points on a short jumper, steal and layup plus two foul shots.
Chelan eventually responded with its customarily productive third quarter to gain the lead. The Goats hit 6-of-10 shots, mostly by Phil Cullen and B.J. Mitchell. Cullen scored seven points while Mitchell had all of his five points in the period.
Cashmere eventually forged ahead by scoring on four consecutive possessions. That sequence included a rebound basket by Matt Darlington plus an outside jumper by Aaron Sparks. Two free throws by Darlington expanded the lead to three points.
“We've emphasized going inside to our three big guys (Kerns, Darlington and Spencer Crossland) these past few weeks,” Bulldogs' coach Miles Caples said. “We also had some big shots from Aaron and Tyler Green.”
Cashmere was also able to gain some big rebounds after missed free throws in the final two minutes, a key factor, Harris said.
The game also featured another match-up of Cullen versus Kerns, theoretically for the last time. While Cullen will be playing basketball at the University of Utah, Kerns will be playing football at Eastern Washington University when the new school year starts.
“I like the challenge of playing against Phil. It's fun to bang with him inside,” Kerns said. “Phil is a great post player. I'm a little stronger, but he has some great moves.”
Cashmere again opted to have Kerns guard Cullen. It's been an easy decision, Caples said.
“Jake is our best defender, so he's going to take him on. It's a battle of two very good players,” the Cashmere coach said.
For the record, Cullen finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Kerns had 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Darlington also had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Cashmere. Lucas Dobbs added eight points and four assists for Chelan.
Chelan went into the game ranked No. 1 in the final 1A poll, but will enter state as a second seed. The Goats' coach said facing their rival the weekend before state can have a positive spin.
“This kind of game will help both teams. We'd rather be coming off a win, but these kids can bounce back. They always do,” Harris said.

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