By Don Nelson
The Liberty Bell High School girls’ basketball team had two decisive road wins last week to stay near the top of the Central Washington 2B standings.
After a 43-27 win at Oroville on Dec. 12 and a 57-33 victory at Soap Lake on Dec. 15, the Lady Lions are 4-1 in league play, tied with Tonasket for second place, and 4-2 overall.
After a 62-26 loss to undefeated, league-leading Brewster at home, Liberty Bell bounced back against Oroville. Liberty Bell coach Ed Smith said that Oroville is in something of a “down cycle” thanks to graduations and injuries, and he was able to play everyone on his roster for plenty of minutes.
Senior Katie Labanauskas and freshman Sammy Curtis led the Lady Lions with 11 points each.
At Soap Lake, Liberty Bell kept up its momentum for an easy win over the Eagles, hitting its highest point total of the season. Sophomore Tommie Ochoa scored 11 to lead the Lady Lions, while Curtis and senior Carlynn Treise had 9 each.
It will be a long time before Liberty Bell sees its home court again. On Tuesday (Dec. 19), the Lady Lions played at Omak in a non-league game. On Dec. 28-29, they will play in the Cascade Hoops Classic. They are at Manson on Jan. 2 and Tonasket on Jan. 4 before hosting Bridgeport on Jan. 6.
Liberty Bell 43, Oroville 27
Katie Labanauskas 11, Sammy Curtis 11, Lauren Ochoa 7, Ali Palm 6, Tommie Ochoa 4, Carlynn Treise 2, Devin Surface 1, Destiny Ferreira 1.
Liberty Bell JV 57, Oroville JV 11: Jadyn Mitchell 23, McKenna Ott 6, Caitlyn Cooley 6, Hailey Dammann 5, Hannah Bakke 4, Aleigh Priest 4, Joslynn Rispone 4, Shae Taylor 2, Shelby Vintin 2, Destiny Ferreira 2.
Liberty Bell 57, Soap Lake 33
Tommie Ochoa 11, Sammy Curtis 9, Carlynn Treise 9, Katie Labanauskas 6, Lauren Ochoa 6, Ali Palm 4, Devin Surface 4, Emily Paul 3, Willow Temple 3, Destiny Ferreira 2.
