Liberty Bell’s Lauren Ochoa drove for the basket in an important win over Tonasket.
By Don Nelson
The Liberty Bell High School girls’ basketball team is riding a five-game winning streak into the District 5/6 tournament this weekend, where they will go in as the No. 2 seed from the CW2B league.
The Lady Lions, with a league record of 12-4 (12-8 overall), finished second to Brewster with a late-season surge that included three wins last week. Liberty Bell earned a bye in the first round of district playoffs, and also can advance to regionals with one loss. Two losses and they’re out.
On Saturday (Feb. 10), the Lady Lions will face the winner of a first-round game between Mabton and Manson, the No. 6 seed from CW2B, at Granger High School. Tipoff is at 2:30 p.m.
The third and fourth rounds of the district tournament will be played Feb. 16-17, also at Granger High School. Five teams will advance to the regional playoffs on Feb. 23 – 24.
Last year (2016-17), Liberty Bell lost in the first round of the district playoffs. In the 2015-16 season, Liberty Bell just missed making it into post-season play.
The Lady Lions closed out league play with three double-digit victories in the span of five days last week.
Liberty Bell 41, Manson 22 (Feb. 3)
On a night when the offense was inconsistent, the Lady Lions’ ferocious full-court press and man-to-man defense kept the Trojans from contending on Liberty Bell’s home court. Manson scored early on, and then didn’t score again until the end of the first quarter, which ended with Liberty Bell up 11-3. In the second quarter, Manson managed 12 points to match the Lady Lions, who took at 23-15 halftime lead.
That was pretty much it for the Trojans, who tallied just 1 point in the third quarter and 6 in the fourth. Liberty Bell struggled to find points, but still made it a relatively easy 19-point win. Earlier in the season, The Lady Lions beat the Trojans by 9 points. Senior Lauren Ochoa led the Lady Lions with 15 points.
Manson 3 12 1 6 22
Liberty Bell 11 12 13 5 41
Lauren Ochoa 15, Sammy Curtis 8, Katie Labanauskas 7, Ali Palm 5, Destiny Ferriera 4, Tommie Ochoa 2
Liberty Bell 56, Bridgeport 37 (Feb. 1)
The Lady Lions pummeled Bridgeport by 44 points earlier in the season, but on their home court the Fillies kept it closer — although not nearly close enough. Liberty Bell outscored Bridgeport in every quarter to gradually build the final margin. Lauren Ochoa topped the Lady Lions’ score sheet with 18 points, while senior Katie Labanauskas added 14, as did sophomore Tommie Ochoa in a season-high performance that included three 3-point baskets.
Liberty Bell 13 16 15 12 56
Bridgeport 8 14 7 8 37
Lauren Ochoa 18, Katie Labanauskas 14, Tommie Ochoa 14, Ali Palm 4, Carlynn Treise 3, Devin Surface 2, Sammy Curtis 1
Bridgeport JV 41, Liberty Bell JV 37: Madison Surface 10, Willow Temple 8, Hailey Dammann 7, McKenna Ott 5, Hannah Bakke 4, Jordan Flett 3
Liberty Bell 51, Tonasket 34 (Jan. 30)
On Senior Night in the Liberty Bell gym, it was sophomore Ali Palm who led the way with a season-high 17 points in a definitive revenge win over the Tigers. Earlier in the season, the Lady Lions lost at Tonasket, 50-37.
The win over Tonasket was a meaningful victory in that it allowed Liberty Bell to claim second place in the league all by itself. Tonasket, Lake Roosevelt and Waterville-Mansfield all finished with 11-5 records in league play.
The 30-point turnaround between Liberty Bell’s first and second games with Tonasket had a lot to do with the Lady Lions’ consistent defense. In the first contest against the Tigers, Liberty Bell coach Ed Smith said, Liberty Bell made 40 defensive errors, threw the ball away too often and only shot 22 percent from the field.
“We just took care of business a little better,” Smith said of the Senior Night win.
Seniors Lauren Ochoa, Katie Labanauskas, Emily Paul, Carlynn Treise and Devin Surface were honored before the game.
Tonasket 7 6 7 14 34
Liberty Bell 15 5 10 21 51
Ali Palm 17, Lauren Ochoa 11, Katie Labanauskas 9, Tommie Ochoa 7, Carlynn Treise 4, Devin Surface 2, Sammy Curtis 1
Liberty Bell JV 43, Tonasket JV 10: Hailey Dammann 18, Madison Surface 9, Willow Temple 4, McKenna Ott 4, Hannah Bakke 4, Jordan Flett 3, A’leigh Priest 1
Leading scorers (through 20 games): Lauren Ochoa 241, Katie Labanauskas 180, Ali Palm 134, Sammy Curtis 102, Tommie Ochoa 84, Carlynn Treise 68, Destiny Ferriera 32, Devin Surface 31, Emily Paul 20, Willow Temple 3
