By Don Nelson
Defense was the downfall of the Lady Lions as the Liberty Bell High School varsity girl’s basketball team dropped its season-opening game at Pateros on Monday (Dec. 7).
Liberty Bell managed to stay close in the first quarter, trailing 13-8, but the Nannies steadily pulled away after that for a 51-23 win.
“We knew they were a pretty good team, and we are thin depth-wise,” Liberty Bell coach Ed Smith said. The Lady Lions had only six girls designated to play in the varsity game, he said. “We hope to bring some of the younger players along” to contribute this season, he said.
Defensive lapses made it hard for the offense to keep pace, Smith said. “We didn’t do a good job of blocking out, and missed defensive assignments,” he said. “It was just a night when things didn’t work.”
Lauren Fitzmaurice led the Lady Lions with 12 points and seven rebounds. Katie Labanauskas had three points, and Amanda Dwinell, Monica Chavey, Lauren Ochoa and Exie Romero had two points each.
Liberty Bell was scheduled to play at Omak on Wednesday (Dec. 9), and the Lady Lions will host their first home game of the season on Friday (Dec. 11) against Tonasket at 6 p.m. Next up is an away game at Oroville on Tuesday (Dec. 15).
| STATS | |||||
| Liberty Bell | 8 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 23 |
| Pateros | 13 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 51 |
