By Al Camp
Chronicle staff

     Mike Bourn, Liberty Bell's coach and ambassador for girls' basketball the past 17 seasons, will put aside his clipboard now that the season is over.
     Bourn, who moved to the Oroville area six years ago, said all the travel back and forth, the long hours and coaching his daughter Korrie in her final year on the team led to his decision to retire.
     Bourn took the girls to eight state tournaments (one 1B, two 2Bs, five 1As) and brought back six state trophies including a seventh place this year in 2B.
     As a star player at the University of Puget Sound in the late 1960s and early '70s, Bourn brought his forte for defense to the Methow Valley in 1991.
     "At UPS I always drew the best offensive player," he said. "We had lots of shooters (Brewster's Tim Taylor player there) so I played defense. That is why I believe in defense. Defense won us a couple games in Spokane this year."
     Bourn said he's most proud that his teams only played one losing season, that being 9-11.
     Overall, he estimated his record at 285 to 290 wins. Bourn said he received a T-shirt in December 2006 that indicated he'd passed the 250-win mark.
     Last year's team went on to win 20 games. This year the Mountain Lions won 24 more.
     When he first arrived in the valley, Bourn taught math and science for three years while also working in insurance. He's worked in insurance for 32 years. He now runs VIP Insurance in Oroville; VIP stands for "our customers are very important people," he said.
     "I'd still be going up there except for the drive," said Bourn, who said the drive from Oroville to Winthrop was almost 200 miles round trip.
     A late practice meant he often did not return home until 10-10:30 p.m.
     "I'd love to stay there; man, these juniors and sophomores are going to be real good," said Bourn of upcoming players. "I love their attitude and character. They should make two more trips to state."
     Bourn said he made public his retirement March 2 after the state tournament.
     Past players who have done well in college in include lefty Jennifer Paluck, the school's all-time leading scorer (just under 2,000 points and all-time Caribou Trail League leading scorer), who went to Eastern Washington University, and Lynn Brown, who started at Loyola Marymount.
     Paluck's younger sister, Kylie, proved to be a power for Liberty Bell this year by getting the team into district play.
     She then suffered a knee injury and could not play the rest of post-season.
     "That really hurt us at post," said Bourn, who said with the 6-0 Paluck Liberty Bell may have reached the finals.
     Kylie Paluck also could not play much last year because of the flu.
     "For two years she gets to go to state" but can't play at 100 percent, said the coach.